Chapter 174: Summer and With It, Trouble (6)
lX0AAfter the one-off lecture, we headed to the academy cafeteria for a meal. As expected of the Royal Academy, the meals were of a spectacular quality and from what I heard on the way, it seemed that the Royal Academy was also getting supplies from the Dunareff Family.oDYw0Q
8sHIcc“Oppa! I’m going to hang out with my friends, so you two can go back without me!”ubKmGcQ
yYxPbh0“…”VkRZYP
0bX“…”hEpkh1
Zyf3mMy sister was gone and we continued awkwardly sipping on our coffees inside an academy cafe.hQtMrFG
pHd415d『Why would I date someone other than Mr. Korin?』DJS5
0r7What she said back at the lecture room kept coming back to the surface of my mind. There was no way that I couldn’t understand what she meant by that.R69eq
Hh8TI’m quite quick-witted when it comes to things like this, aren’t I?XS34
1RU80WThanks to my sharp mind, I was easily able to deduce that Alicia was harboring feelings for me.FyH
cz4PR9T“Umm… Alicia?”rgN3Wt
hM8“Yepp! Huft! Ye— cough cough!”vSZdJ5
M7tqDShe replied while coughing out her coffee. Judging from how she had been nervously stealing glances at me, it appeared that she was quite agitated by her own unconscious remark.iv1p
zI0Zc“Fuu… What you said back then…”JqmKVS
ONYio“Sorry?! What? Me? What did I say?”ddBtA
5LTAkM“…”SOxBY
qvdAlicia shouted out loud, trying to erase what had happened from her memories. She was constantly trying to deny it, so I decided to shift the topic.lYGbN5
tV6zuDu“Do you want to go training?”UeU
lxx8dFirst off, we had to do something about this awkward atmosphere.yFaIU1J
XVoR***NC4
W0KdxThe 6-star hotel from the Dunareff Franchise that Marie rented out was currently hosting most of the members of Korin Guardians.1YXM
LrBExcept for Alicia and I who had houses inside the capital, it was acting as the temporary home for Marie, Hua Ran… and other official members such as Dorron and Kranel, as well as the unofficial ones such as the Arden Sword Squad elites, and the Warsky mercenaries.sXV
thnQkIncluding the attendants for the Dunareff Dukedom and the Arden household, more than 600 people were staying at the hotel.wpb
7mFAKZAs expected of the only 6-star hotel in the capital, the Dunareff Hotel was equipped with phenomenal facilities and a size that could accommodate all 600 of them with ease.VfhjqG
KqW“Huu… It’s empty.”ewidUAU
J2DZf1Alicia and I headed into the renovated gym inside the hotel. It was one of the facilities that was revamped by the servants who we caught from the Tower of Mages, in preparation for the Korin Guardian’s group event.pRbREg
6LnvVA“People should be coming in soon.”on2VO3L
Lj9yRc1The royal banquet was planned to be held in three days. It was likely that the hotel would start bustling with people starting from tomorrow.FPSPD
yYvMP“Let’s start off slow.”IrPd
tDhRI was going to stay here tomorrow and for the foreseeable future after that, so I decided to have a small practice duel with Alicia for starters.ZadFK
kOjJrTm“I, I’m ready.”tdk96v
3rQ“Right.”muRIt
Emu-Swish!s7A
DXVe6oXThe first attack was a stab of the Ominous Snake. The Ominous Snake wasn’t the fastest stab in my arsenal. In fact, it was one of the slower ones for a spear, but…eGyS
BRPbFX“Huhp…!”Zcx4G7
MFlIt had in itself a tricky and flashy style that made even Alicia react half a second late, despite her numerous practices against it. The slithering snake did not move in a straight line, hence the difficulty in blocking it.k0M2cq6
u0si0-Kang!SnME8
6sp7But Alicia was also an elite swordsman in her own right, and a prodigy acknowledged by the Sword Emperor. As someone innately born to be a fiend of swords, she saw through the difficult paths of the Ominous Snake and retaliated in a flash.TZME
rM0Deflecting the spear, she struck down with the sword, to which I responded with the principles of Lan.ys7
tQQBy slightly shifting the trajectory of the incoming attack, I spun the shaft of the spear to immediately take the upper edge. Like magnets intertwined, the opposing sword was naturally pushed down toward the ground by the spear, passing the initiative over to me.jl8e
QvHAfter parrying the enemy’s attack – Lan – and suppressing the weapon – Na – I followed through with a stab – Zha.L0Om
q4MTLan Na Zha.ByM
S0EKo7Alicia had to somehow react to the practice spear that was coming straight at her chest, but it was too late for her to retrieve the sword. What was she going to do now?SIrko
cX8dSF“…!”dv8Z550
D8ZPShe dodged the spear by bending her back with a sudden twist. Those moves made her look more like a beast than a human, but she didn’t end it there and used the momentum of the spin to support her counter-attack.KUo9og
bqr478“Hmm…”poa
wtuyHer moves weren’t exquisite but were rapid and intuitive.jlVp0
fumVhvT“Let’s up the ante a little.”BJhs
5xSKvOur practice duel became more extreme – the attacks became much faster and much stronger.e4Nva7s
N9few“Hu…!”7S1X
qz1Alicia took a deep breath in and parried my spear with her sword. That was when I saw that she wasn’t breathing any of that out.Ijg
UPUwdE-Kang!XYf
ZJtwZMThe edge of her sword came straight towards my hand that was carrying the spear. After coming to the decision that she couldn’t beat me in a medium-distance battle, she pounced, aiming for close-quarters combat.Q5MddJ
o58-Kaang! Kagang!nYK
PC6otZIf this was last year, I would have dominated her.f2cVJ2
g4Zn4WbThat was how big of a discrepancy there was between me and her, and I also had the experience of going against the otherworldly powerhouses of this world.wNCEhRC
vA1ebMHowever, now that she had passed through the Sword Challenge of the Ardens and defeated the Sword Fiend in the process of acquiring Claiomh Solais, she had grown so much that she couldn’t be compared to how she was in the game.uslWf
cxE“Slow.”yMy
mW9masQShe remarked.0jVwTVd
3TY9gEg-Kwaang!NCSu
HxPni8The rampaging sword pushed back my spear, as well as myself, with an overwhelming force… It felt like my bare body was being bombarded by aura.v4i
H4Qu“Huuu…”b5ASLE
Lz7BTsNow that there was some distance between us, I stopped for a second to gaze at Alicia and found a sword fiend looking back at me with a blank look in her eyes. It was one of the unique traits of her style of being bewitched by the sword.Wjb6Ti
BqMfWU8Even though it was a practice duel, someone weaker than me might die if they were up against her.8JDXcqc
NBt3M‘Actually maybe not.’QzZFj
1CAgOActually, that might not be the case because most wouldn’t even be able to provoke Alicia into that state unless they were as strong as me in the first place.V5KGH2K
51wgkIn any case, Alicia was currently in a selfless and mindless state. The fight against the named boss, Sword Fiend, had allowed her to reach a level further beyond.VlcR
2bF‘Do we stop here? No, I suppose there’s no style in that.’R4r
ITpGLAs a warrior and a knight, I couldn’t jump into icy water even though my body was just starting to get heated up. I readied myself to burst out the built-up heat and energy into one attack.QMmRcAd
jUayg-KAAANG!!4T7
j8g79EkThe weapons screeched out in pain as the heat dispersed with that single clash.CM9fGC
vgCpRe“Huu…”CUPjAh
ZTV“Haa…”YFN
QimiAlicia and I lowered our weapons after taking deep ragged breaths. These days, it was getting more and more common for us to stop our practice duels in this manner.vG3I
kf8“We can’t… go anymore, can we?” she asked.9eN
kwzJ“One of us might die if we go any further, so no.”haTOM
NHSNSS“Ugh… Don’t want that either.”eA0y8
EA2tXTOWe were using mock weapons with non-lethalizing spells cast on them, so there was no threat to our lives for now but…uG2HcWR
fYqC“Hey. There’s a cut on your arm.”sOTaWt
hR4e“Aht? Uaahk?!”3MlMw
NUm4Alicia jumped on the spot after noticing the cut on her right arm. There was also a slash on my shoulder but that didn’t mean much for me.zrFF
upb7io“This is unfair. You’ll regenerate that soon anyway, right Mr. Korin?”9DOxmP1
59J1Viw“You have a potion. Just take that.”nXUkk0
pEFsI“Hing…”lLuas
BXOqrPShe took out a potion while I headed to the first-aid box to grab some bandages. It seemed we wouldn’t be able to have any more duels in the coming days at this rate.Wgt6q
yAn5“Mhmm…”wQln0
FTa41zI was wrapping the bandage around her arm when Alicia let out a sudden moan. I realized that I could smell her hair which was drenched in sweat and feel her breath.z8aRppH
KTPNkNgUntil now… I had never been this conscious around Alicia even when we got close but…LA63
GBlSq“Mr. Korin. You smell sweaty.”zII
9lKjee“…Says you.”Bfm
E5P“Ah…”6CoQp
AsGZ8CAShe suddenly stood up from the ground before I was even done with the bandages.E3qvXJ
gGdLofC“L, let me go take a shower!”bIG4
fUh8yv“What?”BWzp
bGCAlicia then dashed towards the bathroom. Was she… going to be okay? If you wash your body immediately after getting cut…bWpQ4
gB8Ao-OUCH!vm0W
qHlcMxsHer deafening scream echoed all the way out from the female bathroom.zdXC
tIKh9fY***pPC
srQ9gAlicia had to wrap new bandages after washing her sweat off.iIjM6e
N2f7L9M“Ughh…”99Ghj
Xfx7PKz“It’s your fault for taking a shower after getting cut.”46G7
Rzdi“But…”fmXIc
jRo7wFShe whined with a sorrowful look on her face. Something I felt from time to time was that she was the type of person to sometimes do things without thinking them through.lU4ui
O37YvQh『Why would I date someone other than Mr. Korin?』LWkO
kpDtWhat she said back then in the lecture room was one example out of the many I could list.6kRqrAr
Cvt60Alicia slowly opened her lips.LMYjUd
izK“Actually… I saw you and Ms. Hua Ran in front of the hotel…”lSAAM5p
Mm8eThat must have been the reason why she was feeling down these days.Mhl9quq
OMMtcIj“Are you dating her?” she asked.N7Ofs
T5tYGm“No. Not yet…”ENTrAyb
mwR“What about Senior Marie?”2ruQ
wtD“Not yet…”pUdeRFx
yRqlm“Then… It doesn’t matter, right?”xDiuE5e
WZ2FperAlicia held my hands with a violent surge of desire in her eyes. She then nonchalantly dropped off a shocking statement.E1Wkb
EkOusl“Not that I care either way.”bSdBj6M
n8HWhat do you mean by that…?AMc
RHVWhat happened next came in a flash before I could even voice out that question.rS7D
oB0QOJx“Mhmm…?!”fLhVR9H
SaenXRShe suddenly laid her hands on my shoulder and pushed down to match our line of sight, as her blue eyes started scanning through me.qtc
21hPHer eyes were looking directly into my eyes. It was pressuring but I couldn’t turn my eyes away from her, and her blushing skin gave off an alluring scent.0HyQV
qsLkWThen, she pressed her lips onto mine.FSe
glt9Our lips were laid on top of one another. Unlike my coarse and blistered lips, Alicia’s were soft and warm.1vm
bUFThere was even more to it than the sudden and unexpected attack. Before I could even react to her unhesitant march, something penetrated my lips.iM9C
V8fpw2“?!!”tJt1C
jIfThe sudden intruder threatened to go further by scrubbing past the teeth. The softest of spears tickled the lower gum, but as if discontent by the tough and resilient castle gates that refused to let it in, she gently bit my lower lip.O3R
g5pWrmA soft yet coercive whisper. In the end, the gates failed and the fortress fell before temptation as the intruder started to ravage around the inside.pIpxI
TlOIt roamed around awkwardly and simply, not knowing what to do, but it was nonetheless the sweetest feeling in the entire world.iInk
y8LlWithout the need to voice it out loud, we noticed how pleasant it had been to the both of us as soon as we unwillingly parted our lips.TseZ
nBFDDYM“Haa…”543KPQ4
Pq5SLetting out a ragged breath and with an undisguisable blush on her cheeks, Alicia said while giving a passionate gaze.y2jF2
g0UuE“I like you.”JPFdp2
Rwqqf“…”7CLXa7G
XoopJTq“Ever since you fought against Unni for me, and ever since we watched the moon at the secret land of the druids… for the entire time… I’ve loved you.”VlC1
Gjn2j3vAlicia said with a wide smile that even made her appear like a fool. It was such an innocent and pure smile and a straightforward flood of emotions.Nq8Amwk
LXGhOj“Alicia, I-”r1zC
QITN1She pressed her lips onto mine one more time before hearing me speak.uch
rLGAfter persistently sucking on my lower lips, she then started tasting my upper lips. She forced my teeth open, pushed her tongue inside, and ravaged until the sound of saliva reached our ears.Bjm
q7dki5Like a baby bird asking its mother for food, she desperately persisted.ARZat
AtbUnlike the innocent and simple kiss I had with Hua and Ran, this felt like I was being devoured by a beast. Despite our lips parting after that long and deep kiss, our saliva refused to let go of each other and created a silver string between us.GbpXsQV
FK9q“Mr. Korin.”XS1bI5
i4LAlicia whispered, tickling my ears with her voice. Her flushed cheeks and her smile made her appear extremely enchanting.L95cA
PcT“Hehe…”hf0WDPQ
CJCHayOnly after pouring out her feelings in both action and words did her rampage come to an end.2X8zNfp
CQtIi“U, uah…”roj8X
nUarcHowever, soon after, Alicia seemed to realize everything she had done.rfuSM1m
fit“Auh… Ahh…!”kgMdI1
1fHUUHer decisive proactiveness and her heated gaze were long gone – she crumbled on the spot regretting her boldness.p5rTZ7
OUuEFI“…Why did you do it in the first place if you were going to be like that?”1KXtoY
3Iz“Ugh… Y, you don’t have to remind me that, okay?”T0Ltjy
vD6Vp“…”B5TPD1
9CVqs“…Can I hear your answer?”upfxN
edEK“Umm… Sorry. Right now, I cannot go out with anyone.”ztqbB3i
4WT“Ugh… I know. You have to first deal with fighting Valtazar and all that stuff, right?”Y7E
3dhVh“…Yeah.”3Qxc
VDg7Ran confessed to me; Marie and Hua whispered love but I could not accept any of their feelings.Pi9vg
zYnS2There was something I had to do and no one knew what would happen in the process. If I were to die during the fight… things might go out of hand.6le7
WFUI had gone back in time once, but there was no guarantee that I would be able to go back in time again after another defeat. Most importantly…v7RH
Fj1A『…I love you. Sorry… for saying that so late. I love you. I really love you, Korin.』0OewQ
odwmBeing separated by death was more painful than what anyone could expect. The guilt of being unable to save your loved one lasted a very long time.9XlC
khn8EThat wasn’t something that could be overcome and was… something that just had to be buried down and endured.tN9k
WGFUnlike me, these girls had no likelihood of being given another chance.4lhkM
YOXrrv“It’s okay. I… somewhat knew this would be the case.”64H
bJO“Sorry.”2pFv3ad
8QT9K“By the way, Mr. Korin.”xFZX
bsZzf6“Hnn?”BPwNY
5VjAlicia suddenly brought her face closer to mine. Her face was so close that I became nervous whether she was going to force her lips on mine once again but instead, she simply gave a wide and bashful smile.rvoU
PhO“You see… if you want to, I don’t mind you going out with other girls, you know?”nzm
v2JCx“Huh?”hq12A3
7iB0fpF“I like it because it feels like I would be getting more sisters. Yeah… a hundred-people-family including kids… We would need a big house!”kFb
awEGm“W, wait… what? Hundred people?”sW1VBDY
aKt43S“I’m going to bear 13 children, so we would fill up 100 in a flash, right?”6ylrpD
dghawEOAs I previously thought… there was something severely off about Alicia’s view on marriage…0NX
LldSt***VPO
BUtEg“Oppa. Did something happen between you and Alicia-unni?”hxGa
6OPVM0y“Huh? Nn? What? No!?”FbFaNXo
vGBF87ZSia, who was oddly quick at reading between the lines, mumbled with a worrisome look on her face.G01qz7
zNMoN“Will you be alright, Oppa? I wonder, will you be able to stay alive in the future?”uLKOz3
6GUMQ7k“…”TRro
vmcLjFxShe voiced her pure and honest concern. Huu… I was actually starting to wonder the same thing as of late.whd0Cqh
VdMgs“Be careful. You might be worn out by the age of 30 at this rate.”ocois
wow“K, kuhum… You wouldn’t know this, but actually, there won’t be any problems in that regard…”DGg
4qgHRxA“That’s not what I’m saying, you idiot!”hty3Fy
C2gGRTEI could have dodged the pillow she threw but I intentionally remained standing there. I deserved to be hit…VmVFtx
dDCvT“Haa… four people, huh…?”uXisRh
4KcWhen did it go up so much? Why are there so many in this iteration?Fn4SlH
5Ro0acEnding up with one person wasn’t the end of all problems either. Even if I did go out with someone, the future ahead wasn’t clear.HLO
BAT8lAfter clearing the scenario, I might be given the choice of going back to Earth. Some existence must have brought the player into this world, so there must be a way to return us back to Earth at the end.YNDDNcy
wULWhen that time comes… what am I supposed to choose?v3cf
GSdwSLH***W4BGPl
lfnG9Before the start of the banquet to congratulate the victory against the Tower of Mages and the safe rescue of the Saintess, we had to stay in the waiting rooms of the Royal Palace until we received our Greatest Achievement Award.3o0Qi
6GA5QUMarie was allocated to a personal room due to her status as a young lady of a dukedom. That was nothing new, but unexpectedly enough, I was also considered a noble and was given a personal room as well as a maid.O1CpBoy
O4EG“Would this be enough?”AgxM
gUH“Ah, thank you so much.”EkWidpe
t5w“Please don’t be, Sir Baron Lork.”8rzMUu
qCC0mt6The royal maid, who was just done tidying up my hair, replied in an extremely polite manner.u06Q3VK
94O2Baron Lork.3Q0Lnlz
9rzAlthough it wasn’t a hereditary peerage, it was already a few months back that I was appointed as a vassal of the Dunareff Dukedom. It was something Marie desperately wanted to give and half-forced onto me, but thanks to that, I was being treated as a noble in the palace.SWf
otmyMy family was shocked when they first heard that, even though I hadn’t even told them about me becoming a Grade 1 JP yet…2QEVYsX
uSe“Ehew…”MHs7
o33e5HWhatever. What’s good is good.i0UUJ
boXw8For the upcoming scenarios at the end of the holiday, the main story was going to be heavily influenced by peerage… especially the status of being a Justice of the Peace.AcAi
bFw5GU1It might seem like I was leeching off of a girl, but…DdkP
msN-Knock knock!j2Msmo
nVkud8I was in the middle of getting ready for the conferment ceremony, which was going to be done in front of His Majesty and the nobles when someone knocked on the door.NGVcwxE
HBkSL-Sir Baron Lork. Her Highness, Estelle Hadassa El Rath, has come over.qNx
0LPG3A female voice echoed from outside, which appeared to be that of a maid. It was a sudden visit from Estelle, but I asked the Maid-noonim inside the room to help me open the door for her.XtNq6
NAd1Soon, the door opened, and walking in was none other than the real Princess Estelle.LPL1me
cnJJ“Korin-dongsaeng…”TpjsBiS
2oyShe looked miserable like a puppy out in the rain… as she looked at me while on the verge of tears.6K7O7
E9U“What do I… do?”sLj
vykZB3Right, she finally knew the truth.wz4F
84BI instinctively realized that the trouble from the kidnapping incident of the Saintess had yet to end.JeAgMSQ
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