Chapter 114: Chapter 114

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: The Unexpected Encounter

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Thump—

The carriage heading for Jerion Academy began to move.

Inside, there were only two of us: Sharin and me.

Engagement.

An act promising marriage.

And I was about to get engaged to the woman right in front of me.

What's more, it was Sharin Sazalis, daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord and blessed with the Mirinae, the foremost magical talent.

"Please take care of me, husband."

"You want to joke around in this situation?"

I stared at Sharin, dumbfounded, and she let out a languid laugh.

Her expression was one of complete indifference.

"Well, there's no helping it if we want to keep Hanon from being executed, right?"

As Sharin said, this engagement was precisely to prevent my execution.

The potential for the Ancient Dragon's magic to go berserk.

Though I had demonstrated my control over the Ancient Dragon's magic, this possibility still shackled me.

It was a given that a major incident would occur the moment I underwent dragonification.

They couldn't just trust one person like me without any safeguards.

So, they needed a failsafe.

A failsafe that could control me, no matter what happened.

And the one who emerged as that failsafe was Sharin.

The Blue Magic Tower Lord had been informed that Sharin had helped control the Ancient Dragon's magic.

Thus, using this as an excuse, Sharin was designated as my failsafe.

To solidify that designation, an engagement with me was arranged.

"I saved Hanon's life, you know."

Sharin puffed out her chest, looking triumphant.

"I appreciate it, but… are *you* okay?"

For me, it was a matter of life and death, so I had no choice, but for Sharin, it was nothing but a loss.

Sharin was the future Blue Magic Tower Lord.

She was someone whose path to marriage should have been smoother than anyone else's.

If she were to get engaged, it would naturally cause problems for her future marriage prospects.

So, when I asked about it, Sharin thought for a moment.

Then she looked at me and tilted her head slightly.

"You have to make me happy, okay~?"

"Guess I'll have to learn how to make cream bread, then."

"I'm happy."

Happiness that was incredibly easy to fulfill.

"And I don't really care about engagements or anything."

"But your marriage prospects are on the line."

"I wasn't really planning on marrying anyone, anyway."

Sharin was against the idea of marriage.

"But if it's Hanon, it might be fun."

"I'd rather not be your plaything, though."

"Whyyyy?"

Sharin stretched out her leg and tapped my foot with her toe.

Her mischievous behavior made me let out a short sigh.

My head was a mess, but what could I do?

If I wanted to cling to my lifeline, I had to do something.

"Please bear with me for a while."

"You asked me to~."

Sharin bowed her head in imitation of me, then her eyes shot open as if she'd just remembered something.

"But what are you going to do about Hania now?"

"Ah."

I'd completely forgotten I was dating Hania.

***

After successfully completing Act 4, Chapter 3.

I safely returned to Jerion Academy.

As I trudged back to the dormitory, Marie Emaris, the head maid of the dormitory, came out to greet me.

It seemed she had heard the news of my return.

"Young Master Hanon, welcome back. You've been through a lot."

"Thank you, Marie."

"Here, have some tofu."

I took the tofu Marie handed me.

"I didn't go to prison, though."

"You were kind of released, weren't you?"

So Marie could joke, too.

That was new.

I diligently ate the tofu Marie gave me.

The tofu was savory and delicious.

After returning to my room with Marie's guidance, I immediately changed into my spare uniform.

Because it was currently the middle of afternoon classes.

Though I had unavoidably missed the previous classes.

The Autumn Magic Palace event was coming up soon, so team discussions would surely come up again.

'More importantly.'

Given what I'd done this time, I was a bit concerned about the other students' reactions.

Plus, I had to talk to Hania about the engagement.

'Staying put would only make my head more complicated.'

Act 4 had only just finished Chapter 3.

There were still several scenarios left in Act 4.

Even if only to prepare for them, I couldn't neglect my studies.

I quickly started making my way towards the Martial Arts Department.

When I asked a passing assistant instructor about today's Martial Arts Department class, they told me it was at the training grounds.

Apparently, today was a joint training session for the Magic Department and the Martial Arts Department.

It was a session to review their individual mistakes from the International Solo Exhibition and train together.

That's why, as I walked down the hallway to enter the training grounds, it happened.

Click-clack—

I heard the sound of high heels clicking.

For some reason, the sound of those heels felt incredibly familiar to me.

My gaze slowly drifted in that direction.

Soon, I spotted a woman walking towards me.

Her hair, a mix of purple hues on a black base, fluttered around her.

Her heavy makeup was reminiscent of a gothic doll, and her outfit was adorned with numerous ribbons.

Not a uniform, but casual clothes.

She wasn't a student.

Oh, damn it.

I hadn't expected to run into her at this exact moment.

My face involuntarily stiffened.

I knew that face all too well.

She was a key character from the very first scenario I encountered after possessing the Flame Butterfly Arc.

She recognized me from afar, and our eyes met.

Her violet eyes blinked once.

At the same time, her eyes slowly began to widen.

The moment I tried to back away, the window beside me rippled.

Thump!

At that instant, a gigantic, pitch-black arm shot out from the hallway window.

Just before the arm could reach me, I dropped low to the ground and rolled away.

The arm, having failed to catch me, retracted back into the window.

And at the same moment, a colossal being peered through the window, its eyes fixed on me.

Simultaneously, the woman from earlier came into my view.

She was pointing her staff at me, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"Finally, I've finally found you."

The complex emotions emanating from her were more than I could fathom, but…

"My Husband!"

The words she cried out were consistent.

The woman I had approached and tricked to steal the Bandage of Veil and various other items.

The one suffering from extreme affection deprivation.

The Berserk Mage.

Binesha.

She was here at Jerion Academy.

'So, things are proceeding according to the original plot.'

I had known for a while that she would come to Jerion Academy.

After all, she was the one who was supposed to come to the Academy to replace the Magic Department's associate professor, who had been dismissed due to the boycott incident.

'Binesha only earned the title 'Berserk Mage' after the academy incident, after all.'

Of course, she had done plenty of crazy things before then, just without being caught.

Nevertheless, her magical abilities were outstanding, which allowed her to be invited as an associate professor to Jerion Academy.

"My Husband? We've never met before."

"Are you trying to deceive this maiden's eyes? The Bandage of Veil was originally my possession."

I figured as much.

I hadn't even thought I could fool her in the first place.

And I knew that if we met, things would turn out like this.

There was a way to deal with her.

Binesha was a person suffering from severe affection deprivation.

I had satisfied Binesha's affection deprivation.

I had hoped she would forget that time and fill her affection deprivation with someone new.

But judging by that crazed look in her eyes, it seemed there hadn't been anyone like that.

So, if I satisfied it again, she would quickly calm down.

In fact, that had been the original plan.

Until I faced other problems, that is.

'…Dating Hania. Getting engaged to Sharin.'

Binesha's affection deprivation was excessive.

And all of her psychotic behavior stemmed from that affection deprivation.

A yandere.

A psychological state where anti-social desires emerge as a rebound from attachment.

Binesha was the quintessential character embodying this.

'Grantoni's master.'

He was the person who caused Binesha's tendencies to manifest so strongly.

Grantoni's master was ultimately killed by Binesha.

And now, I had become the target for resolving her affection deprivation.

"Why are you here looking like that? Do you know how sad this maiden was after my Husband disappeared?"

Binesha's eyes were genuinely brimming with tears.

Tears welled up and dripped onto the floor, one by one.

As Binesha appeared flawless in appearance, her distraught look was all the more pitiful.

"Have you grown tired of me? This maiden has no one but my Husband. I can give you everything this maiden has."

"Binesha."

I called out to her, stopping her.

"You and I have only known each other for a week."

The time I had spent with Binesha was exactly one week.

Yet, on the very first day we met, Binesha had tried to give me everything she had, her very heart and soul.

"What does time matter?"

But Binesha didn't care in the slightest, her eyes trembling.

"The time this maiden spent with my Husband was deeper and more profound than any other moment in my entire life. Now, I cannot live without my Husband."

"You've lived perfectly fine until now."

"Why are you changing the subject?!"

Binesha cried out, tears still streaming down her face.

"Do you no longer love this maiden?!"

She wouldn't listen to reason.

I felt like I'd have better luck talking to a wall.

In the end, I decided to play my trump card.

"...Binesha, you remember the effect of the Bandage of Veil, don't you?"

"Yes, of course."

"And you know about the problems that arise from using the Bandage of Veil, too, right?"

"That…"

Binesha's eyes slowly began to widen.

She stared at me with wide, bulging eyes.

"My Husband, surely not…"

"That's right. I can't feel love right now."

Binesha froze in that exact posture, her face etched with shock.

Finally, I was getting through to her.

"So, I'm sorry, but…"

"This maiden will bring it back for you."

Binesha's violet eyes glowed vividly.

The emotions in her eyes felt utterly crazed.

"With this maiden's love, I can teach my Husband to love again. Definitely, absolutely!"

Binesha took a large step towards me and cried out.

It was as if she was revealing an undying will, like a heroine from a fairy tale.

"..."

I was speechless.

Binesha connected everything to love.

"...So, what brings you here?"

First, let's change the subject.

Of course, I knew why she was here.

She was here to find Jerion's secret grimoire, hidden within Jerion Academy.

At my question, Binesha smiled brightly.

It seemed she was simply delighted to be talking to me.

"They say there's a student at the Academy who uses Jerion's magic! I came to meet that student."

"Ah, uhm."

That's… right in front of you.

'Did my performance in the solo exhibition throw the original plot off course a bit?'

What should I do about this?

Just as a brief moment of contemplation passed, footsteps echoed from behind me this time.

"Oh, huuuusband."

And then, the most languid voice, one that absolutely should not have been heard here, rang out.

I sharply turned my head to look behind me.

There was Sharin, who had come to attend her Magic Department class.

Her languid hand gesture was unmistakably pointing at me.

Snap—

At that moment, Binesha's eyes lost focus, and her head snapped to the side.

"Hu-husband?"

I was screwed.