Ramielli Academy Entrance Ceremony (7)
Zeke scratched his head and practically ran out of the entrance ceremony.
He heard the academy's principal would be arriving soon.
It seemed the aftereffects of his mana-infused speech were kicking in harder than expected, so he decided to make himself scarce for now.
It wouldn't do to have his first impression on his new boss be one of utter chaos.
A tiny sliver of his almost nonexistent conscience pricked him.
‘I'm gonna get an earful later. Ugh. But it's not like I meant for this to happen!’
Honestly, in the dark fantasy world, even if he had screamed himself hoarse, those who had already given up on life wouldn't have listened.
Their hearts, already drenched in the blood of despair, simply wouldn't ignite.
So, he had done what he always did—lit a small, controlled fire.
Except that this time, it wasn't a controlled fire. It was a raging inferno that had the potential to burn down an entire mountain.
Zeke kept forgetting that this wasn't that gloomy, damp place.
This was a world of romance fantasy, where hope, annoyingly, still thrived.
‘Ugh, whatever. What’s done is done. It’s the academy's problem now, not mine! Right?’
He rationalized, even though his attempt at rationalization was anything but rational.
As he walked, lost in thought, he spotted two women glaring daggers at each other.
‘Huh? Isn’t that… Selena? And the redhead in front of her… Could that be Iriel Eustia? Hmm. Not quite on Selena's level, but she’s pretty attractive.’
Zeke had zero intention of getting involved with either of them, so he simply observed from a distance.
Just then, Iriel Eustia glanced at him and raised her hand.
‘Uh oh. Don't tell me she's…’
Knowing he couldn't just stand by and watch, Zeke quickly channeled mana into his legs and shot forward.
*BOOM*
The ground cracked with a deafening roar as he landed.
*
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Z-Zeke."
Zeke had flown in in the blink of an eye, shielding Selena with his own body as he grabbed Iriel's wrist in a vice-like grip.
Iriel couldn't believe her eyes.
She'd seen Zeke watching them from a distance, and had assumed he was just biding his time.
After all, he was *her* Zeke.
"W-When did you…! Owowow, my wrist! Zeke!! Let go!!!"
A wave of betrayal washed over Iriel.
She stared at Zeke's white-gloved hand, his grip unwavering.
The pain in her wrist was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Zeke would betray her.
Could this even be the real Zeke? Or was this just someone who looked like him?
But even after ten years, the face, the aura, the eyes… It was undoubtedly Zeke Clayman.
Iriel bit her lip and glared at him.
"Z-Zeke!! How could you?! How could you do this to me?!"
Her face was flushed crimson as she yelled at him.
But Zeke's expression remained unchanged.
"Say something, dammit!"
"Iriel Eustia."
Zeke took a deep breath.
"Get lost."
Iriel had been filled with excitement and anticipation at the thought of seeing Zeke again.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that these three words would be the first thing he said to her after ten long years.
Just three little words.
He had changed so much.
It was as if he were a completely different person.
Iriel's eyes wavered.
As if she couldn't believe what she was hearing, she slowly shook her head.
"No. Go away. You… You wouldn't do this to me. You wouldn't…"
Zeke had no idea what kind of relationship this body had with this woman.
But judging by Iriel's reaction, it seemed to have been a lot deeper than he'd thought.
He let go of her wrist.
‘Damn, I’m exhausted.’
He was already mentally drained from dealing with the principal and that mana-intensive speech.
On top of that, seeing Selena in a potentially dangerous situation had forced him to use the remaining dregs of mana in his body to reach her.
‘But this is the right thing to do, for now.’
Iriel, true to her role as the villainess, had tried to pull a rather nasty trick.
A trick that had forced Zeke, who wanted nothing more than to stay out of it, to intervene.
She had deliberately humiliated and embarrassed Selena in front of him, all so she could then turn around and declare that Zeke was on *her* side.
If he didn't shut her down here and now, the betrayal and insecurity Selena was feeling would never truly heal, no matter how much time passed.
Zeke had already made up his mind during his conversation with the principal.
Whatever relationship this body had with Eustia, *he* would not be continuing it.
As he watched Iriel with a mixture of exhaustion and wariness, tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and choked out,
"You… You can't do this to me! Zeke!!"
Her hands trembled as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Hicc… Sniff… You'll regret this! Just you wait!!! Hic."
Her threat had all the subtlety and menace of a villain in a bad play.
‘What the… That’s it? I was expecting some death glares and vengeful promises. This is…’
To Zeke, who hailed from a world of dark fantasy, her threat was almost… cute.
‘Back there, people would stab you with a smile before they’d even think about making empty threats.’
But even cute threats could be dangerous if you let your guard down.
He couldn't just let her go without making sure she wasn't planning anything.
‘Using the Eye of Judgement here might be overkill, but…’
Zeke scanned his surroundings, making sure there were no other threats, no one else he needed to be wary of.
‘All clear. Selena's here, so it should be fine. Let's do this.’
As he watched Iriel storm off, her red hair blazing like a fiery halo, Zeke drew in the surrounding mana and focused it on his eyes.
"Ugh…"
He winced.
[Betrayal: 40%, Distrust: 25%, Possessiveness: 15%, Expectation: 10%, Sadness: 5%, Fear: 2%, Affection: 2%, Hatred: 1%]
‘Well, this is interesting.’
Through the Eye of Judgement, Iriel's soul appeared as a muddy grey, like white cloth stained with soot.
The equivalent of a saint in the dark fantasy world.
Her true nature wasn't bad, but it seemed her environment had corrupted her.
Of course, compared to Selena, she was practically a shining beacon of purity.
And yet, hatred made up a measly 1%.
Despite feeling so betrayed, she harbored no real desire for revenge against him.
‘What the hell? What did this body get up to…’
***
Selena, who had been silently watching the entire exchange, was an emotional rollercoaster.
Joy. Confusion.
Betrayal at not being told about his past with Iriel.
Sadness. Happiness. Anger. And finally, a wave of relief.
"Um, Instructor…"
She stared at Zeke's back, her hand reaching out to lightly tug on his sleeve.
But just then…
"Ugh… I overdid it…"
Zeke's legs gave way, and he collapsed right then and there.
"Instructor!!!"
* * *
A gentle swaying sensation.
Zeke slowly opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.
"Well, this isn't my bedroom ceiling."
He sat up and took in his surroundings.
Judging by the darkness outside the window, it was either very late at night or very early in the morning.
The familiar inscription on the door told him he was in Selena's mansion.
"She must have dragged me all the way back here. I hope she got someone to help her."
He checked his body next.
Thankfully, he was back to his normal self.
"How embarrassing. Passing out from using a bit of power. The demons would have a field day if they saw me now."
Using the paltry amount of mana available in this world the same way he had in Dave Continent was like trying to run a 220V appliance on a 110V power supply without a converter.
Infusing a few flowers with mana and making them dance around was one thing—he could do that all day without breaking a sweat.
But using any of his more powerful, namesake techniques seemed to overload his system, leaving him completely drained.
"Perhaps I should learn how to use mana the way they do in this world."
The thought of his old magic lessons suddenly came to mind.
If he could find a mage and learn their mana manipulation techniques, using his powers would be a lot easier.
But something was holding him back.
‘…'
He was afraid.
Dealing with this body's past might be relatively straightforward.
But he wasn't sure if regaining his full strength was such a good idea.
The power he wielded in the dark fantasy world was too different, too alien to this world of romance fantasy.
A primal part of him recoiled at the thought of becoming that person again.
‘Perhaps I haven't fully accepted my role as a swordsmanship instructor yet.’
He let out a sigh.
‘I'll decide after I've met the female protagonist.’
Zeke stroked his chin thoughtfully. He'd expected it to be rough from not shaving, but it felt surprisingly smooth.
*Click*
The door opened, and Selena entered, carrying a tray.
On it was a bowl, steam rising from it invitingly.
She hurried over to him when she saw he was awake.
"Instructor! You're awake! Are you alright?"
"Yes. How long was I out?"
"Um… about two days. The doctor said you were just exhausted and needed rest, but… I was starting to worry. I was going to take you to the medical center tomorrow if you hadn't woken up."
Zeke shook his head firmly.
"That won't be necessary. I'm fine. But two days? What about the academy schedule?"
Just as he was asking this, his stomach chose that moment to make its presence known.
*Growl*
‘Damn it.’
Selena giggled at the sound.
"I was actually bringing this for myself, but you can have it."
"Hm."
He looked at the tray in her hands.
A bowl of soup and a single spoon.
It seemed she hadn't been taking care of herself either, busy looking after him.
‘But there's only one spoon?’
"Wouldn't it be better to get another bowl of soup?"
"It's late, Instructor. The chef's already gone to bed."
Selena sat down on the edge of the bed and placed the tray on his lap.
She scooped up a spoonful of soup and blew on it gently.
Then, she held it out to him.
"Here you go, Instructor. Say ahhh…"
‘Uh… what?’
Zeke's jaw dropped slightly in surprise.
Selena seized the opportunity, slipping the spoon between his lips.
*gulp*
"Hehe. Good job. You must be starving. You haven't eaten anything since… well, since before the entrance ceremony, so that's three days."
She beamed at him before scooping up another spoonful of soup and holding it out to him.
After a few spoonfuls, Zeke reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"Hm?"
"I'm good. You eat now. This was for you, wasn't it?"
"B-But… Instructor, your h-hand…"
Selena squirmed, her face turning as red as her hair.
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Thanks for the chapter
ReplyDeleteSince when was selena’s hair red
ReplyDelete