Chapter 44 - Darkmtl
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Chapter 44

“What a shame. Just a little longer.”

I thought to myself that I had missed a great show.

It wasn’t that I was upset about the spectacle itself, but because I had lost the chance to witness their skills.

After coming all this way, wouldn’t people start to get suspicious if I just went home without doing anything? I figured they probably wrapped things up after the matches.

In the game, the story unfolds with players’ locations being discovered during the duel process.

“W-wait, wait! So, uh… what’s going on here?!”

Luna, who had witnessed a secret she shouldn’t have seen, flustered and stammered.

Her eyes were darting around, and her hands flailed aimlessly. Anyone could tell she was confused.

The two lovers who had been caught in their secret romance looked no different. They were red-faced and troubled, clearly caught off guard.

“…By the way, you managed to confirm this somehow, slipping past our detection?”

Gloria fanned herself with her hand and spoke. Her tone didn’t bear a hint of reprimand.

For her, understanding the situation was a priority. First, they needed to know how we followed them.

They had been on high alert, worried such a thing could happen right before entering the forest.

Having slipped through that vigilance, they would surely feel more curiosity than anger.

“W-well…”

At Gloria’s inquiry, Luna glanced at me and stuttered.

She wrestled with whether to mention me or not.

At least from what I knew, Luna couldn’t lie. After much deliberation, she answered honestly.

“S-Sivar…”

“…Sivar, you say?”

“Yes. Sivar said to follow…”

That was the truth. Luna came because I suggested it. For her, that was all she could say.

However, Gloria seemed to think differently. She furrowed her brow, her expression suggesting she was somewhat annoyed.

“I’m disappointed, Luna.”

“Y-yes?”

“We’ve heard things about Sivar. They say he’s from the wilderness, you know, the forest.”

Luna displayed a bewildered expression at Gloria’s rebuke. She couldn’t grasp why she was being scolded.

“If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. Do you think Sivar would know nothing?”

“Y-yes? Ah, no. It’s not that…”

There’s a saying for situations like this. It’s ridiculous and frustrating. Luna must have felt exactly that.

She had spoken the truth, yet now she was being mistaken for a liar. It was infuriating.

“It’s the truth… Sivar, can’t you say something?”

“Yeah.”

“Not that! You said to go!”

“I did.”

Well, I did say that.

“Huh… Luna?”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m becoming increasingly disappointed.”

“Why?!”

Regardless, it would be hard for them to believe that, though.

Luna had spent a lot of time with me, so she knew me to some extent, but Gloria and Kronos didn’t.

They likely thought I was a naive soul who had just come from the forest. They probably assumed Luna had succumbed to pressure.

From Luna’s perspective, it would be maddening. Although she hadn’t lied, she was being treated like a liar.

“I’ve never lied! Really, Sivar…”

“That’s enough. Let’s move on. What’s important right now isn’t that. Instead, I’ll compliment you on getting past my detection.”

“…?”

As Luna realized she wasn’t being believed at all, she gave up. Her expression was full of indignation.

Then Luna sighed deeply, sounding almost resigned.

“…Okay. Then, it’s true you two are in that kind of relationship?”

“If you’re calling it romance… yeah, that’s correct.”

“But your countries… aren’t they hostile to each other?”

“Explaining that would take a while…”

Just as Luna seemed to grasp what she was about to say, Gloria looked toward Kronos.

Kronos had an equally awkward smile plastered on his face, clearly feeling just as uncomfortable.

‘If I said it was love at first sight, they wouldn’t believe me.’

It wasn’t an empty claim; we both truly fell for each other at first glance. Back then, we denied it to ourselves, though.

However, after clashing weapons, we slowly started to feel attracted to each other and began our secret romance.

When countries are at odds, who cares? An ideal type you long for is right in front of you. You can’t help but succumb.

Moreover, it’s not merely one-sided affection. There’s a perfect chemistry between us, to the point of making others envious.

This is information you can only discern after gauging affection levels. From here, you could tell how much we liked each other.

“What’s important now isn’t that. What matters is that Luna and Sivar have learned about our secret, and we need to prevent that.”

“…What if I were to spread it?”

“The Matra Empire and the Granada Empire would lose precious personnel. For us, fleeing would be the end.”

With that cool response, Luna muttered something about a love escape? To anyone just listening, that’s how it would sound.

It might sound quite romantic, but in reality, it isn’t romantic at all. If the secret leaks out, they’d live the rest of their lives as fugitives.

Either the Matra Empire or the Granada Empire would brand them as traitors and hunt them down. That would mean a lifelong separation from a happy life.

To prevent that, they had no choice but to meet in secret. They had to agree to any demands.

“However, neither I nor this one want that. Sadly, we love our country in our own ways.”

“I see.”

“In exchange for keeping the secret, all we can do is help you as much as we can, even if it’s something material.”

Kronos could see how he was pleading like that, which shows they were well aware of their positions.

Whether they liked it or not, they were the faces representing their respective nations. Weapons their countries could proudly display.

Gloria showed the justice and honor favored by Matra, and Kronos exhibited the strength and practicality preferred by Granada.

Even their strengths and weaknesses were completely opposite. It’s known that Gloria has a higher winning rate in actual duels.

In that sense, learning skills from both of them would lead to significant growth.

“We should ideally have you around when we teach Luna so that it’s a given that we teach you skills…”

“Does Sivar know what he likes? It feels a bit awkward to say, but I thought it would be better to trade something material for promising to keep secrets.”

Kronos regarded me as a wildling, which wasn’t upsetting; rather it had aligned perfectly with what I wanted.

Luna, upon hearing that, turned to me inquiringly.

“Sivar, do you have anything you want? But those two…”

She trailed off, as if searching for the right words.

Then she flushed slightly, glancing at Gloria and Kronos.

Her face grew redder. I can’t tell what she’s thinking, but it seems to point in that direction.

“Kissing… that’s one thing you absolutely must not mention. Got it?”

Is she truly that worked up over just a kiss? Her pure innocence was very much apparent.

I suppressed a chuckle, finding it cute, and turned my head away. Gloria and Kronos wore slightly tense expressions.

What I wanted was skills, so that part was fine. It would be perfect for me with my high base stats.

But separately, I had something material I wished to have.

“Money.”

“…Money?”

“Money. This.”

I made a gesture of pinching my fingers together to express money.

The three looked taken aback, their faces reflecting their surprise at my sudden mention of money.

You had to provide trust somehow. At times like this, material things work best.

“…Why money all of a sudden? Is there something you want to buy?”

As everyone was in shock, Luna managed to speak up. It sounded like she was questioning whether I knew the concept of money.

She’d explained it last time, so it was a reasonable request. Plus, I had something I wanted to buy with that money.

“Candy.”

“…Candy?”

“Yeah.”

That was the candy that Rod had put a ban on. I had become a substance that couldn’t eat sweets.

Besides, I could buy other snacks too, so money was the best option. I couldn’t go hunting or gathering herbs, so I had no choice but to rely on them.

“…Luna? Do you understand why Sivar asked that?”

“Well… yes. Sivar really loves candy. But he recently caused trouble, and the principal told him not to give him any.”

“Is that why he asked us for money? To buy candy?”

“Probably.”

“…?”

Gloria and Kronos stared at me with expressions that couldn’t quite be put into words.

I extended my hand toward them and asked bluntly.

“Money.”

I really wanted to eat candy. I was feeling dizzy from wanting it.

*****

After establishing this contract (?) to uphold the secret, we talked about various things.

Though the secret was exposed, it didn’t mean the duels would stop entirely. The only change was that the timing was extended.

Moreover, there would be another duel after this one, so even if it took longer, it wouldn’t raise suspicions.

“So, you’re saying there’s another duel after this? What does that mean?”

“It means just that. Do you know about the conversation of the body?”

“…?”

“You don’t seem to know about it. There is something like that.”

Luna tilted her head in confusion, not understanding Gloria’s affection for her. She didn’t know what that meant.

Anyway, the situation wrapped up well, and she and Sivar planned to leave here.

Staying here wouldn’t yield any benefits; they would only hinder the duels.

Besides, lunchtime was almost over. They couldn’t afford to be late to their afternoon classes.

“Um… Gloria?”

“Please call me Gloria casually. So, what do you need?”

“Um…”

Luna shifted her gaze for a moment. She looked towards Sivar, who was observing Kronos’s weapon.

Vroom! Bang!

“Hey, wait! You could get hurt like that!”

“Wow!”

Sivar was swinging a massive battle axe around like a bat with one hand. One could get a sense of his incredible strength.

Luna watched the two of them playing joyously and then turned her head back to Gloria.

Up close, she truly was beautiful. With snow-white hair and skin, and vividly shining blue eyes.

Just as Luna was momentarily awed by her mysterious beauty, she spat out a question she’d been dying to ask.

“How long have you known Kronos?”

“I’m roughly 30 now, so… I’ve known him for about seven years.”

“You’ve never gotten caught?”

“No. There have been close calls, but no one suspected us.”

They must have been walking a tightrope, yet they never got discovered. Luna stared with an expression of admiration.

How had they managed not to get caught? The way they made situations like today seem natural was intriguing.

Luna turned her gaze back to Sivar. He was balancing the battle axe on his head, playing some sort of game.

He was trying to keep it upright by balancing the end of the handle on his forehead. Truly a bizarre behavior.

“…Can I ask you something?”

“What do you want to know? Are you curious about how we met?”

“Not that. I’m more curious about how you two manage to not attract suspicion even when alone.”

“Oh my.”

Gloria brought her hand to her mouth in surprise. It seemed she hadn’t expected that question.

Looking seriously into Luna’s eyes, she whispered so no one else could hear.

“Is it a situation where being alone raises suspicion?”

“Hmm…”

Again Luna glanced back at Sivar. Gloria realized something from that look.

There was indeed something between Luna and Sivar. Since it was suspicious, Gloria was piecing things together.

“Could it be that you’re after Sivar?”

As Luna contemplated, Gloria also glanced at Sivar. Objectively, he was indeed quite handsome.

Though the overall body type was sleek, it wasn’t my type. Personally, I preferred the bear-like physique of Kronos.

“An unusual preference I guess. I shouldn’t be one to comment.”

Still, I should cheer her on. I’d heard Luna brought Sivar in first.

Such encounters build and build until feelings spark. That’s how things began for Kronos and me.

While Gloria stacked up her assumptions, Luna babbled without thinking.

“That might be it. We hardly have chances to be alone together.”

“Hmm~”

“Could you not?”

“There’s no reason why not.”

At Gloria’s reply, Luna’s face brightened. She figured soon enough, she’d have a chance to be alone with Sivar.

“But it won’t be easy without a plan.”

“Huh?”

“If Luna earns my trust, I’ll hand over the know-how on how to avoid suspicion.”

After hearing that next part, Luna felt disappointed, but it was still valid advice.

For what reason would Gloria share that with her? According to her, trust-building was essential.

The more time they upheld the secret, the more trust would grow. They just had to wait for that moment.

‘Time is on my side.’

There was plenty of time. The knowledge that the cave drawings where Sivar lived were known only to me and Ratatosk.

Since Ratatosk showed no interest in the drawings, she could be excluded from the equation. So, only I knew of the existence of those drawings.

“…Okay. I’ll work on earning Gloria’s trust.”

“Thank you. I don’t think you’d break your promise, but given our circumstances, we cannot be too careful.”

“I understand.”

“However, there’s one thing I can share right now.”

Just as Luna nodded and prepared to move on, Gloria seemed ready to offer advice.

Luna perked up, looking directed at her just then. Gloria, with an elegant smile, began to speak.

“Love transcends borders. Just like how Kronos and I were.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re no different, Luna. I’ll be cheering for you.”

Upon hearing that advice, Luna quickly made a judgement.

“…Understood?”

She decided that it was better to respond positively for now.


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A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

아카데미에 야생인이 들어왔다
Score 8.2
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Released: 2023 Native Language: Korean
Usually when you possess a novel, you start in the city, but I fell into the forest.

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