CH 5

When I gave him a sausage, he quickly ate it and tapped the plate with his fork, asking for more. What was wrong with you? How scary. Without realising it, I gave Leto my pile of sausages one by one. I felt like I was feeding a cat.

“You two seem to be very close.”

When Kazen, who was watching us, commented, Leto chewed on the sausage and stared at Kazen fiercely. The atmosphere became chilly again. I didn’t know how to handle the atmosphere, so I munched on the bread and looked away.

In the book, I thought Kazen was only a comforting influence for Leto, but in reality, they were closer to each other than any childhood friends.

Even so, for some reason, my back stung. Looking back, the eyes of the students were on us. It was probably because of Kazen, who seemed to be a main character of the romance school novel, rather than a R-19 mystery horror novel.

With two women sitting with Kazen, everyone must find it intriguing. Even more so when one of the women was Leto Arsen, who was rumored to be pretty. Their stares were understandable.

At that time, Leto, who was eating in haste, placed his fork down on the table.

“Get up.”

“Huh?”

I haven’t finished eating yet…..I was about to reply, but Leto grabbed the bread from my plate and shoved it into my mouth.

“Wa es di?” (What is this?)

“There’s not much time left until the next liberal arts class.”

Leto gave me a hard time. What the hell was wrong with you? When Kazen smiled saying it was alright, I got up and followed Leto.

“Le-Leah!”

He left the table indifferently, checked to see if I followed him as well, and then walked out of the cafeteria at a quick pace. I frantically swallowed the bread that was stuffed in my mouth and spoke up to Leto.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Do you like him? You said you liked women.”

……Uh. No, to be honest, I prefer men.

“I do.”

“……I wish I was a man.”

“Huh?”

“If I were a man, I’d be much more handsome than him.”

That was true.

“Yes, that’s right.”

When I nodded, the wrinkles between Leto’s eyebrows disappeared, perhaps because he felt a little better. Fortunately, Leto returned back to normal.

* * *

The problem came after that – I had forgotten it for a moment due to what happened at the cafeteria with the appearance of Kazen Adelis, but the next liberal arts class was black magic. I was at a loss at Professor Hartz’s class, the one who kicked out Leto last time.

do not repost our translations. read only at droppedinks.wordpress.com

Professor Hartz wasn’t going to kick Leto out again, was he? That would be difficult……On the other hand, Leto didn’t seem too concerned about it and entered the dormitory for a while to take care of Crunch. Whenever Crunch bared out its teeth as if to warn Leto, I was nervous, but he gave him affection.

‘But… isn’t that dangerous?’

As I was watching them silently, I noticed that I had overlooked something for a moment. What if Leto tamed Crunch really well?

‘Wouldn’t it be used as a murderous weapon?’

I tried to recall the contents of the old book. How would Leto use it to kill his classmates? As far as I know, there was black magic and……Oh, I didn’t remember. It’s been more than 20 years since I read it before I got reincarnated here.

There was no way to remember each detail in the book.

Still, that Crunch was a risky factor. Why haven’t I thought of it yet?

“What’s wrong?”

Leto looked at me, strangely.

“Well, you know… I’m worried, I’m afraid I’ll fail this assignment.….”

“What, isn’t it too late to worry about it?”

He looked at me with sharp eyes.

“No, I’m worried about your hands.”

“I don’t care, so if you’re scared, just give up.”

No! You have to give up!

“Leah, you’re my roommate. Even if I give up because I’m scared, do I have to stay with Crunch?”

Leto’s expression was distorted when I spoke in a coherent and calm manner. Leto seemed to have given Crunch a lot of affection.

“I won’t let it harm you.”

Leto said, easily. How was I supposed to do this? Should I shed some tears? But could Leto give up Crunch? He still ignored me and tried to leave for the next liberal arts class. But right now, the most dangerous thing was black magic. Professor Hartz was right. Don’t teach him black magic!

“What’s wrong?”

I stopped in front of Leto and he stared down at me. I only managed to block him, but what should I say next?

“Well, I think Professor Hartz is a bit strange.”

I’m sorry, professor.

“What?”

“He suddenly told you to leave. That’s why you shouldn’t listen to the lecture…….”

“What are you talking about?”

I didn’t know what I was talking about either. Leto went below my shoulders and crawled out of the dormitory.

I was in trouble.

At this rate, he would grow Crunch and learn dark magic. There were two things I needed Leto to listen to. Do not give affection to Crunch, and intervene with his dark magic.

We sat down to listen to <The Formula of Black Magic> lecture. While I was wondering what to do with the professor, the door opened. Finally, Professor Hartz in question arrived. The professor yawned for a long time as if he had slept late yesterday and appeared with his hair unkempt.

“Attendance done.”

Once again, he glanced at the attendance sheet without calling anyone. Then, Professor Hartz and Leto’s eyes met.

“…Gosh, I forgot to remove your name.”

The professor, who had a strange ability to speak openly in front of the students, stared at Leto.

“Leah was it?”

“Yes, professor.”

“You don’t fit black magic, so get out. Next time, I’ll remove the name.”

Way to go! Well done!

I cheered for Professor Hartz, who had already rebuked him. When Leto heard this, he would get angry and leave, and me as well, as his friend, would sprint out to maintain my loyalty. Thus, it would be a success.

Surprisingly, I never thought the black magic issue would be resolved this easily.….

“I refuse.”

Leto said.

“What?”

“This is unfair. I didn’t do anything, but you are going to take out my name because it doesn’t suit me. Did I interrupt your class, Professor?”

Why were you suddenly burning with a sense of justice? Even though it was unfair, were you one to argue and grieve about injustice?

do not repost our translations. read only at droppedinks.wordpress.com

I stared at him in confusion. However, I had Professor Hartz. Professor Hartz was rumoured to be a feisty and selfish person, so he was definitely going to recklessly remove his name…….

“You’re right.”

No, why were you giving up so early?

Professor Hartz looked at Leto and opened his mouth.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Leah Arsen.”

“Leah Arsen…I think the Arsen family has one eldest son. His name…..was it Rainier?”

If it was Rainer, then it was really Leto’s brother. Although he was very debauchery and unwise, he was the only heir to the duke apart from Leto, who was the son of a mistress. Leto’s face darkened in an instant when his brother’s name was mentioned.

“That bastard, that man, no……I’m Rainier’s sister.”

“Rainier had a sister. Alright, sister. I’ll keep an eye on you.”

I couldn’t hide my disappointment when the scene I envisioned didn’t play out. I never imagined that Professor Hartz would give up so quickly, so I went on with Plan B. Like a model student, Leto was meticulously taking notes of the lecture.

‘Take this!‘

I threw a note at Leto. Yes, it was a mail attack.

I did the most petty thing to obstruct Leto’s path by heedlessly throwing him notes. When the first note arrived, Leto, who had been silently ignoring me, stared at me fiercely for the note, which had increased from three, four, to fifteen, and sixteen.

Yeah, I think I’d be angry, too.

“Stop it.”

“…….”

I threw a note to Leto when he told me not to. Leto, who seemed completely angry, tried to remove the note again.

“What’s this?”

I got caught by Professor Hartz.

“I just said I was watching, but I witnessed you sending a note. That’s pretty childish, Princess Arsen.”

“…..I did nothing.”

“Get out. And your friend too. I will remove both of your names from today’s attendance.”

“Professor, I didn’t……!”

“If you say more, I won’t let you come to the next class.”

……I felt very sorry for Leto.

Leto kicked off his chair and stormed out the door. I was afraid of the fuming Leto, so I looked at him from behind and belatedly followed him.

I did say I was doing this impulsively to live, but I felt sorry for him.

“Leah! Leah!”

Leto didn’t turn back when I called his name.

“I’m sorry about that!”

“…….”

“I just like you.”

Actually, to live.

“Because I like you so much.”

Because, I really want to live.

“I sent you a note. I’m sorry.”

I sent you a note to live, sorry.

When I said that, Leto turned his head and looked at me with fierce eyes.

“Don’t stick to me. That’s the limit now.”

“What?”

Was it the same cycle again? But I was a little too much.

“Don’t even interfere with me.”

“L-Leah.”

“Don’t even call my name.”

“That’s…….”

“Yeah, so if you feel uncomfortable, go request to change your roommate.”

“No, I’m not.”

“I don’t know if we can change halfway. If you do that one more time, I’m going to threaten the professor to change classes, so you better stay put. Brisse Pierre.”

He threw a terrifying warning and passed by. Oh…… that was not it.

‘I-I’m!’

Do you think I was doing this because I liked it?

I clenched my fist as the clot that I had been holding back for so long, exploded. I didn’t do it because I wanted to. I liked men, I wanted to graduate from this school in a wonderful way, and I wanted to live. Yeah, it would be easier for me if I changed classes. I’d be better off if I changed roommates!

‘Well, if you’re ready to kill, you can just blow up the school!’

Yeah, I was gonna give up everything. I was all fed up. Murder or not, do as you please.

“…..Hmph.”

Yes, I was screwed.