Chapter 253

The long yet short class came to an end, and a happy weekend was approaching.

Honestly, I had nothing much to do on the weekend. At most, I could gather herbs in the forest.

Grace tends to avoid going outside unless I’m next to her. Otherwise, she prefers to head to Godin’s Research Room.

“Whoa, look! There’s a Gonzala flower here. Let’s take it.”

“Sure.”

In that sense, I entered the woods with Eli. Even though it’s off-limits, it’s fine as long as we get Rod’s permission.

I also needed to check the area, so it wasn’t a big deal. It’s something I always do.

“Eli.”

“Yeah?”

“Porori… or rather, Ratatosk? Is he still around?”

“Yeah, he seems to be struggling a lot.”

By the way, Porori is still staying at Eli’s dormitory. The aftereffects of losing life force have lasted quite a while.

It’s called life force, but really, Porori barely escaped a death scare. Physical strength and magic power recover quickly, but life force does not.

If you were to express it in terms of a game, you could say the maximum HP has decreased. Restoring that would take a long time.

At least she can cover it with divine power, but Porori is a follower of Gulrak. Gulrak is far from anything related to life.

“For now, I’m gathering as many acorns as I can, but he eats a lot… Is there any suitable food around?”

“Just focus on the acorns. He should come out eventually.”

What a troublesome squirrel, making his owner suffer like this. It might be better to just butcher him.

I thought about that while occasionally glancing around. Just in case there was a hunter watching us.

Fortunately, there were no signs of one yet, but I shouldn’t let my guard down. Who knows when or where an attack might happen?

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. Did you grab everything?”

“Yep, let’s head back now.”

After a cozy date, we promptly returned to Rod’s Residence. It’s practically turned into our meeting spot.

However, it’s a ten-minute walk from the forest’s entrance. It gives us the chance to chat along the way, which is nice.

“Year-end is approaching. It feels just like yesterday when we first met.”

“Right?”

Looking back, time has flown by fast. I remembered when I was just wearing a rag.

That period seemed longer, but now I feel entirely like a civilized person. I guess the core was always civilized.

At the same time, I started to get a bit tense. After the final exam, demons would launch surprise attacks during the year-end festival.

“Ugh, seriously. Just get lost! How many times do I have to say it for you to get it?”

While we were chatting happily on our way back, a clanging voice pierced our ears.

It was a pretty familiar voice. A jangly sound but close to a low female voice.

When I turned my head, a situation that felt all too familiar came into view.

“I’m not accepting that damn proposal no matter how many times you offer it. If you’re so brave, let’s duel!”

“…Kara, is that you?”

It was Kara, seemingly having stepped out for a breeze, as evidenced by her signature refreshing outfit.

And there was a guy I had never seen before, wearing a rather slimy expression.

He didn’t look half bad, but his sleazy vibe was overwhelming. His eyes were also squinty, definitely not a charming look.

“Oh, please don’t say that. I told you before that such a culture of violence is unacceptable.”

“Ugh.”

As soon as the guy spoke, Eli made an entertaining reaction. Honestly, I felt similar.

How can someone speak and sound so slimy? It felt like he slathered his throat with butter.

It must have been worse for Kara, who had an expression that suggested she might throw up at any moment.

‘…The cooldown period has passed.’

I could roughly guess what was going on. Obviously, he must have insulted Kara, calling her a barbarian or something.

This is an event that often occurs before a demon ambush. If Kara hadn’t matured, this could have easily turned violent.

Now, though, it seemed Kara had matured enough for there to be no further exchange. I heard she can fight back with words now.

“Ugh, seriously… I feel like throwing up. Just go away. I have absolutely no interest in you.”

“What could I do to pique your interest?”

“Ugh… Just please…”

“…?”

But something felt off. It was rare to see Kara crumble so easily.

She was shuddering at his butter-like sliminess. I approached them, curiosity piqued.

Eli seemed to instinctively sense this wasn’t her place to interfere and decided to watch from a distance.

“Kara.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, oh…! You showed up just in time!”

As I approached, the guy seemed puzzled, while Kara saw it as an opportunity to cling to me.

She was folding her arms, showing that it must have been a pretty dangerous situation.

“I told you before, right? There’s a guy I’ve been hiding in my heart. That’s him right there. See? A nicer face than yours?”

“Hmm…”

“…”

It was slightly bewildering, but I was now facing off against the guy. Even from a distance, I could feel it; he had a seriously sleazy vibe.

Antonio had squinty eyes like a snake, but at least his eyes themselves were big. He may have had a sneaky impression, but objectively speaking, he had a good-looking face.

But this guy in front of me? The size of his eyes was so small it was hard to tell if they were open or closed.

If he were half-squinted like Godin, that’d be another story, but he was nowhere near charming.

‘And his body…’

What topped it all off was his physique. I had no idea what he ate to get like that, but he was quite hefty.

Given the times, there are more impoverished people than well-off ones. Yet, seeing this guy, it was clear he came from a well-off family.

“Hmm. I can’t help but acknowledge it. A sturdy body and a handsome face. I understand why a princess would have her sights set on you.”

“…”

Wow. I genuinely wanted to punch him. My fists trembled without me realizing it.

The problem was, while it wasn’t mockery but rather a compliment, I couldn’t just throw my punch out there.

What the hell was this guy doing? I found myself a bit curious about him when the guy spoke.

“I am Tomira of the Fuoa Count family. I’m currently specializing in humanities at the Academy.”

“Sivar.”

“Sivar? Oh, in that case…”

After introducing himself, the guy scrutinized me from head to toe as soon as he heard my name.

With an intrigued look in his eyes and a subtle hand gesture to his mouth. This wasn’t good.

Then he gave a peculiar smile and uttered something that sent shivers down my spine.

“So, you’re that famous wildling. At first glance, one would think you’re a proper civilized person. Hahaha.”

“…”

Is he trying to mock me? Seeing him laugh heartily suggests that he is.

But I couldn’t quite put my finger on how he was mocking me. One thing was clear, though: this guy was not someone I could deal with with my fists.

“A love story between a civilized person and a wildling. It may sound interesting at first, but the walls of reality are anything but easy.”

“I can take her away and live with her.”

Kara immediately shot back. At the same time, she tightened her grip on her arms.

Thanks to that, I could feel the unique softness of her chest. Compared to Eli, who felt softer, this had a stronger firmness to it.

“That’s a decent idea. However, Princess Kara, you came to the Academy to escape the perception of being a barbarian. Isn’t it strange to engage with someone so far from civilization?”

“If I like him, what’s the problem? And I’m tired of you looking down on me.”

“Looking down? Not at all. I’ve simply heard how strong this wildling… uh, I’m sorry. I’ve heard of this gentleman’s strength.”

Then why the hell are you acting like this? Without knowing the whole context, I couldn’t tell what was going on.

“What’s the situation here?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“What happened? What did you do?”

So I just asked directly. What exactly was happening here?

If it had been the usual Kara, she would’ve easily brushed it off. But she couldn’t brush off this weird guy and was struggling.

If she had looked down on him for being barbaric, she would have hurled insults at him easily. Yet instead of cursing, she seemed flustered.

“That pig is asking me to marry him. I can’t believe it.”

“Marriage? Out of the blue? Why?”

“I don’t know. We exchanged a few words at the freshman ball, and he’s been like this ever since.”

Kara grumbled, and Tomira interjected.

“I was impressed by your growth. You were indeed violent, worthy of the derogatory term barbarian. Yet, you handled it flexibly back then. How could I ignore a woman with so much potential? Besides, you’re remarkably beautiful.”

“Ugh…”

How shameless to spew such embarrassing words right in front of someone! Kara shuddered and clung to me.

Even I could feel like bugs were crawling all over me, so I could only imagine how it felt for her. But I think I understood the rough outline of the situation now.

‘Did this happen?’

Kara’s maturity typically takes a long time, and she could often cause trouble at freshman gatherings.

But not anymore. She’s grown quicker than expected, which meant trouble hardly ever occurred.

If it were any other time, she would have held my hand and gone out for community service. The future had changed in a mysterious way.

The reason I had been unaware of all this is simple. Kara probably ignored it, and it isn’t her nature to speak up.

But even Kara has her limits. While her old self wouldn’t have thrown punches, she was still making a scene.

“Princess, one should appreciate a person’s heart, not just their appearance. Do you see that kind of sentiment in this man? It seems he lacks refinement.”

“That’s why I like him, you idiot.”

“Hmm?”

At Kara’s retort, Tomira looked at me with a puzzled expression. I returned his stare.

From what I’d heard, it felt like he was subtly looking down on me.

He’d pretend to respect me, but deep down, he’d surely be dismissive. It was the same for Kara.

‘He must think of me as easy prey.’

Feeling ‘lower’ than himself, he probably thought it was high probability he could pursue Kara. Obviously, she was pretty when viewed objectively.

Her tanned skin was highly attractive, and her refreshing smile was exquisite. Her figure went without saying.

‘Eli is thankful she’s keeping her distance.’

I glanced back at Eli, who was watching quietly from afar.

“It’s quite amusing to think a newcomer could have deep sentiments… But I’m curious. Care to show me?”

“Show you what?”

“The deep feelings you claim to have. If you can show me, I’ll gladly step aside.”

This guy thinks I can’t do it. I felt my bottom eyelid twitch.

The way he picked apart people’s emotions was simply not casual. If he was a strong opponent, that’s just too bad.

But there’s definitely something more solid than this verbal sparring.

“What do I say?”

“Exactly. How can you express your deep feelings?”

“What I’ll say is…”

Deep feelings, my foot.

I chuckled inwardly as I replied.

“Get lost.”

That wasn’t half of it.

“Get bent.”

That seemed like the best approach for him.