BXBX NOVEL Chapter 117: - New Semester (3)
She was like an anaconda binding its prey and the prey – me – was being drawn closer in.
This was the poison apple – eating this was bound to kill me. Despite being fully aware of that, her sensuous appearance was appealing to the eyes; her voice tickling the ears and the sweet scent arousing the nose – every one of those was threatening to deceive and lead a man into ruin.
“Yes. Come closer. Closer… My hero, my prince… My destiny…”
『Knight Korin… You were my destiny. Now it’s already too late though…』
“Huhp…!”
Forcing my eyes wide open, I immediately stood up from the bed.
“Knight Korin?”
“Phew… That was close.”
Despite knowing very well what type of person she was, she was still very close to devouring me whole. I quickly opened the curtains that were covering the window and shed some sunlight into the room.
The aura of the infatuation incense encroaching my body was quickly washed away. I then walked up to Princess Miru who was blankly watching me on the bed.
“Tch. What a shame.”
Even though her vicious tricks had just been rendered meaningless, she didn’t seem embarrassed in the slightest. This person… For some reason, she was always like this in front of me.
“What do you mean by destiny anyway?”
“I wonder what you mean by that?”
“Sure, let’s just say that.”
Seeing that I didn’t fall into her trap, Princess Miru limped her way up and started looking for her walking stick.
“Hmm?”
After standing up with the stick with a fancy gem attached, she looked at me and opened her mouth.
“Did that make you hate me, I wonder? You are not helping me.”
“From what I’ve seen, there was no one who enjoyed receiving help for being physically unwell.”
She seemed fond of what I said, evident from the slight smile on her face.
“Fufu. That’s true.”
Tightening the loosened belt around her dress, the princess licked her lips in regret.
“Maybe I should try with a bit more of a romantic mood next time.”
“It will not work out.”
“It’s not a good habit to be conclusive with anything. Your mind might change after hearing all of my conditions, right?”
“It won’t. Never.”
“How can you be so sure of that?”
“Pride.”
With how she was right now, she was never going to change my mind.
…It was because I knew about her revenge and massacre plans.
“Fufu. Looks like I have a long road ahead of me.”
Wearing a bewitching smile on her face, Princess Miru walked out of my room.
Exhausted, I collapsed on the bed. Since she had been on the bed until just then, it was still warm and had a sweet fragrance to it.
“That was close.”
Both before and now, she was a princess I had to be very careful with.
****
It wasn’t that hard for Jaeger, who became a 2nd year student this year, to notice that the atmosphere surrounding his friend had changed quite a lot.
Korin Lork.
He was the ace of their grade who entered as a Grade 5 and quickly became a Grade 1 Knight. Although he wasn’t at the top of the grade because of Hua Ran, no one in the school would deny that he was one of the peak students in their grade.
Plus, he had an exceptional reputation in the Academy.
He was strong, well-mannered, and had an especially more positive reputation from their female peers.
Right. That was the problem – that was why he was seen by his male peers as such an irritating person to be near despite being a nice guy.
He was popular with the ladies.
There were already 3 girls associated with this boy. In fact, there were quite a lot of girls in both their grade and the one above their grade that were interested in him, of which 3 were certain.
Successor candidate of the renowned family of Arden, Alicia Arden; probationary sister of the New Faith and a Unique-Grade demi-human, Heavenly Yaksha Hua Ran, and Vampire Marie Dunareff – those were the 3 people that Jaeger was aware of.
Korin was a nice guy.
Personally, Jaeger thought he had a great personality.
But still! Seeing how he was always walking around the campus with different girls or groups of girls, people couldn’t help but doubt the authenticity of his great personality.
Maybe that’s all just an act!? Maybe he’s three-timing them?
Jaeger had been holding such doubts for quite a while. It was only after a while that his questions were answered, and the person, who answered those questions of his, was in fact the person in question himself.
****
On the first weekend after the start of the new semester, I was with the boys. We were at a cafe inside the campus and my two friends were drinking their black sugar latte and iced coffee, which I had bought for them.
“You know, I heard normal girls don’t really like being too touchy with guys.”
“Yeah. Nothing new,” Jaeger replied.
“It’s not even in the realm of ‘not really liking’ it,” said Lark. “When I bump into them on the road, they have a disgusted look on their face.”
“Right? That’s what I heard was normal too – especially for girls our age.”
It wasn’t easy for me to know about the mental state of girls because I was a pure man who had gone through an all-boys middle school and an all-boys high school, all the way to a physical education college.
I was pulled into this world before I even graduated and was shoved around for 3 + 1 years. In the last iteration, Park Sihu that bastard was such a bother that I didn’t even have the time to hang out with any girls.
Princess Miru was pretty much the only one I had a relationship with, and even that didn’t end well…
“So. What about girls?” asked Jaeger after chugging his latte and crunching through the pearls.
I replied.
“They’re… umm, a bit too touchy.”
“This fucking bitch?”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Jaeger suddenly swore while munching through the pearls. He looked a lot more violent now that he got another tattoo on his body over the holidays.
Lark, who was a lot more nerdy in comparison, carefully raised a question.
“Did you say the girls are being touchy?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you… explain what you mean?”
He asked while raising his glasses. Something I noticed just then was that he lifted his glasses with his palm. Are you Captain Kuro1TLN: Captain Kuro from One Piece or what?
“For example… Let’s start off with Senior Marie.”
……….
…..
…
“Haa, haaa… Korin. Thanks… as always.”
“It’s alright. You’re drinking more blood these days, but that’s okay because my regeneration also got a lot better.”
“W, was I? Umm, you… see? Ah! Doggo! It’s because Doggo needs a lot more blood these days! I think he is about to grow bigger!”
“…I don’t think he should grow any bigger than that though.”
“K, kids should grow! Right, Korin. You haven’t had lunch yet, right?”
“I think so? I went shopping in the city and had to skip a meal.”
“T, then, by the way… Do you like blood sausages?”
“Of course I… blood sausages… is it?”
“Y, yeah! I have some… blood sausages made of clotted blood. You liked congealed blood soup so I… was wondering if you would like that too…”
“It’s made of pork blood, right?”
“O, of course! It’s made of… pork blood!”
“I, I will go ahead with that then…”
『You have consumed an elixir made of Medium Grade Blood』
※ It is an elixir made using a special ingredient
– Your Mana Rank has gone up by a small amount. If you eat double the amount, your Mana Rank will go up again.
“Fuuuu…”
“H, how was it, Korin?”
“I, it was great. Can you… make 2 more servings of it?”
“O, of course! I can make as much as you want!”
………
……
…
“You ate that?”
“It did taste good though…”
“Holy… fuck. That’s heavy.”
“I did see people mixing blood into chocolates in novels but…”
“Anyway… I know Senior Marie is trying to do something good for me but… I’m not really sure why…”
“…Huu. Do I tell him or nah?”
“Don’t even bother. Let’s just see how far he wants to go.”
“Guys… What are you talking about?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just move on.”
The two of them looked like they were both irritated and amused by the situation and that was a bit strange but… regardless, I continued on with my story.
“These days, Alicia…”
****
I went to watch a play with Alicia. The one in the East that I watched with Lunia was alright, but as expected, it fell short compared to the one in a metropolis.
“I did choose it to have less time in class but this is quite annoying; having to go down to the city, watch a play and write a report about it…”
“Really? I liked it though,” said Alicia.
“The acting was great but the plot itself was kinda weird. The story was made in the archipelagoes beyond the seas, right?”
“Was the story that bad?”
“It’s about cheating. Both the male and the female leads… It felt like it was encouraging and glorifying cheating.”
“B, but still. W, wasn’t the story beautiful?”
“Are you saying cheating is alright as long as it’s ‘beautiful’?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Has she gone mad…? What in the world was she talking about…?
Soon, after seemingly realizing what she said, Alicia covered her flushed face and continued.
“T, that’s not what I mean. There are circumstances… and it’s case by case, so…”
“What do you mean case by case…”
“T, think about it. Maybe cheating… is not that bad after all?”
“Are you hearing yourself right now?”
What is wrong with you? You’re scaring me!!
I was feeling slightly spooky when she suddenly grabbed me and pulled me to one of the alleyways of the city.
“Do you want to reenact… what we saw on the play?”
“H, huh?”
“Y, you know. It’s important to know what the characters were actually feeling when writing a report!”
“Like, we can just write some random things about the plot and we will be half-done already…”
“Quick! Put yourself in the shoes of the male lead!”
“K, kuhum…”
I recalled the play we saw just then. If I remember correctly, at the front door of the house they…
– Grip!
There, at the entrance to the house, I held onto the sweating Alicia.
“Brother-in-law… Sister is not home right now…”
Her words reminded me of the time we were in the hidden lands of the druids, as well as her enchanting blue eyes that were gazing down at me in the darkness of the night…
“I know.”
I gulped and looked down at Alicia. I could hear her heart beating intensely from all the way over here. Wait, was this… the sound of my own heart?
“W, we shouldn’t be doing this.”
Despite saying that, there was a slight look of expectation in her eyes. Her acting was exceptionally perfect, to the point that it could be considered an incredible talent of hers.
“Huehue. You say that but your body is saying otherwise—”
While stroking her shivering face with my fingertips, I…
………
……
…
“Wow… Shit. That’s crazy.”
“This means going out with someone is not going to be the solution to all problems.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? Aren’t we talking about acting?”
“Yeah yeah sure. If you say so, sir.”
Lark had suddenly turned very sarcastic. What was wrong with him?
“Anyway, you mean it’s still an act but… she’s still too touchy even while taking that into consideration?”
“Kind… of. Honestly, I was a bit nervous. I don’t touch a girl’s face like that very often, you see.”
“‘Often,’ huh. So that wasn’t your first time…”
“Huh? Of course not. What do you mean?”
“You fucking…”
Ignoring the frown on Jaeger’s face, I moved on to Hua Ran’s story.
****
“Hand.”
During break, Hua Ran asked for my hand as always.
“I don’t mind giving you my hand but… doesn’t your hand get sweaty when you do this?”
“It feels good.”
Hua Ran replied while locking her fingers with mine. She had been like this the whole time ever since I cleansed Nazrea.
“Does it really feel that good?”
“…Un.”
The reason Hua Ran was being so touchy was because of the Sun inside me.
Claiomh Solais. After swallowing the Sun, the Yang energy inside me started to grow at a rapid speed and was flowing out of my body.
That was why Hua Ran, who gave off Yin energy because of her extreme Yin Constitution, felt good from the supply of Yang energy whenever she was next to me.
When you think about it, my body was even better than legendary Yang-energy-oriented mythical creatures.
“Hehe…”
Because of the supply of Yang energy, the one in control over the body also tended to shift from time to time. Just like always, Ran suddenly popped out.
“The break is about to end soon.”
“Oppa. Can you please hold both of my hands?”
“…I don’t mind, but…”
As soon as I said that, Ran sat on my lap facing me and wrapped her arms around my body.
“Wait, wait… Girls and boys over the age of 7 should not…!”
“It doesn’t matter because I will be marrying oppa.”
It matters to me though…
Perhaps it was because she was still young, but her show of affection was a bit too extreme. In the end, I couldn’t move for a long time with Ran hugging me from the front.
………
……
….
“I can’t take it anymore. This motherfucker!!”
“Uaahkkkk…!!”
Jaeger and Lark suddenly started glaring at me as if they wanted to kill me.
“What is wrong with you guys…”
Their expressions turned into ugly frowns the moment they heard me question.
“Do you need more sugar? I can get some cakes for you.”
“Please just go kill yourself. I beg you.”
“Like, why are you mad for absolutely no reason?”
“Absolutely no reasonnn? No reasonnnn?!”
“Korin. You… This is too much.”
Even Lark was joining the fray. What was wrong with these guys? Why were these bastards getting mad at me for no reason?
That made me upset as well.
“Give me my coffee back, you bastarddss! Your friend is out here asking you for some advice!”
“Just freaking pick one!”
“No no no. Picking one is not going to solve it at this point. They’re not going to accept their defeat.”
Again, these guys were talking about things that only made sense to them!
“Can you just make it easier for me to understand? The girls are being too touchy, and I just want to know the best way to explain what it means for boys and girls over the age of 7 to…”
“Hello, Senior Korin?”
That was when a voice echoed from behind. It was the voice of Princess Miru, which I had gotten used to these days.
“Your Highness… What brings you here?”
“I am planning on having a look around the city. Can you please be the guide for me?”
“…Alright, sure.”
………
……
…
Seeing their friend leave the cafe in order to escort Princess Miruam, Jaeger and Lark let out an empty laugh.
“Even the princess is after him now.”
“What in the hell is up with this guy… Did he do something amazing in his previous life or something?”
“Maybe he saved the world? Actually, he must have saved the world quite a few times!”
Lark Buhgman approached the matter like an academic. As expected of a scholastic nerd, he referenced the Karma theory to support his claim.
“Just leave him alone. I’m telling you, this guy – he’s going to be shredded apart into 5 pieces… if not more.”
From what they could tell right now, it was 4 girls; Marie, Alicia, Hua Ran, and Miruam, but who knows? He might have a few more girls hiding elsewhere.
Seeing his friend who was insanely popular with the ladies, Jaeger was jealous yet worried at the same time.
Maybe Korin wasn’t in the wrong, he thought. Maybe it was just that he was being approached by some girls that weren’t very normal in their minds.
Jaeger’s internal defense of Korin, however, was shattered to pieces when he went to the Hunting Grounds after being picked as one of the helpers.
“K, kuhum… Student Korin. Thank you for applying to join the Hunting Grounds prac lesson this time around.”
Chairman Eriu Casarr.
The male chairman of an unknown age was blushing while talking to Korin.
“Dude, look at that…”
“I can’t believe it…”
There’s no way. This can’t be. Like, isn’t this too…
“He’s even seducing guys now?”
“That guy’s just an inborn player.”
Jaeger and Lark could only hope that they were overthinking things too much.
Footnotes:
- 1TLN: Captain Kuro from One Piece