Chapter 117: Chapter 117

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Unjust Accusations

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Before Professor Beganon.

I was currently feeling incredibly wronged.

To think the reason for my first private consultation with the professor was due to a "promiscuous lifestyle"!

As I've said before, the peak of my "promiscuity" was limited to Seron's kiss on the cheek.

For someone like me to be called promiscuous—there's nothing more unjust.

"Professor Beganon, I swear to the heavens, I have never lived a promiscuous life."

From the start, I lost my ability to love because of the Veil's Bandage.

At this point, even if I wanted to live promiscuously, I couldn't.

Who in the world would point fingers and accuse an impotent man of living promiscuously?

Began on leaned back against the sofa, a look of annoyance on her face.

"I know that much. It's obvious you don't harbor any ill intentions towards women."

She was wearing a comfortable tank top, the top part of her undergarments visible.

Naturally, I hadn't spared it a single glance the entire time.

I had merely thought to myself that if she was hot, she should just turn off the heating.

It seemed Beganon had evaluated me based on these very points.

I tilted my head.

It was my way of asking why she had called me if she already knew that.

"But Hanon, the problem is that regardless of what you claim, your reputation among others isn't like that."

That's true.

No matter how much I insist I haven't lived promiscuously, the people around me don't see me that way.

After all, a person's reputation is ultimately determined by those around them.

"Hanon, ultimately, the reason the word 'promiscuous' is being thrown around is because you have too many women around you."

I kept my mouth shut regarding that.

As she said, there are many women around me.

But unfortunately, *Blazing Butterfly* is a game with a harem structure.

Fundamentally, female characters play significant roles.

I have to lead the main story.

So, I had no choice but to associate with characters who hold significant roles.

Honestly, there wasn't much I could do either.

"So, you just need to resolve that aspect."

"Are you telling me to distance myself from the people around me?"

I had to avoid that at all costs.

"Rather than that, wouldn't it be resolved if you just increased the amount of time you spend with male students?"

Male students I associate with.

Who would that be?

At most, there's only Kard and Ban.

And even then, I see Grantony even less frequently.

'Ban is the type who prefers to be alone anyway, and Kard is in the Magic Department.'

There are also student council friends like Poara in the student council.

But even with them, I wasn't close enough to see them in my personal time.

'It's true that I'm a bit distant from the male students in the Martial Arts Department.'

Aside from the girls I hang out with, women generally dislike me.

Starting from giving Isabel a bad impression on the first day, there have been a few clashes with groups of women.

At this age, male students are typically very interested in the opposite sex.

I didn't want those boys to associate with me only to fall out of favor with the girls.

That's why I'd actually grown distant from the male students in the Martial Arts Department.

"Honestly, as a professor, it's a bother to even care about the students' personal relationships."

Professor Beganon was too blunt.

"Manage your own rumors appropriately. The conviction students of Jerion Academy should hold is to advance into the Magic Palace and return safely. Remember that."

"Yes, Professor."

With the consultation concluded, I trudged out of the professor's office.

Honestly, I had no idea what to do.

The main reasons the word 'promiscuous' came up this time were Sharlin's engagement and Vinesha's affectionate advances.

Sharlin's engagement couldn't be called off.

Even to hold onto my lifeline, I had to continue the engagement with Sharlin.

The same went for Vinesha.

This was a crucial time for episodes related to Vinesha.

I didn't want any variables to arise by needlessly distancing myself.

'Even if the minor events aren't the same, the main events must occur for the scenario to progress.'

As for me, I couldn't distance myself from the people around me.

If that's the case, then it means I need to increase my interactions with male students, as Professor Beganon suggested.

This also didn't seem easy.

"Oh, Wangnon."

As I exited the main building, Kard appeared just then, raising a hand in greeting.

"Now, I'll have to pass on the titles of 'womanizer' and 'rake' to you."

"I wouldn't take them even if it killed me, so you can keep them for yourself."

"Heh heh, I can't do that. Thanks to you, I'm reaping the benefits."

Kard had recently been receiving the evaluation that he was 'at least not as bad as Hanon.'

For me, it was incredibly infuriating.

"Wangnon, thanks to you, life's been great lately. Thank you. You're truly my friend."

"From today, I've decided we're no longer friends."

One thing was for sure: I shouldn't associate with that guy Kard.

Even if I could dismiss other rumors, the one about promiscuity could never be erased by associating with Kard.

We'd just be lumped together as two of a kind.

So, I quickly parted ways with Kard.

'What should I do?'

While I didn't mind other bad reputations, promiscuity was something I genuinely disliked.

There was still a lot of the scenario left.

If a bad reputation like promiscuity was added to that, navigating things would become complicated.

As I walked towards the dormitory, a familiar face approached from the opposite direction.

I saw familiar dark brown hair.

Beneath it was a face that perpetually looked disgruntled with the world.

An academy student whose hands were laden with rings.

The second-ranked student in the second-year Magic Department.

Dorara Corazin.

After the incident with me, he was one of the individuals who had been ostracized within the academy.

"Dorara."

"Huh? Ugh, damn it."

The moment Dorara saw me, his face twisted into a scowl, revealing his anger.

After being thoroughly defeated by me, Dorara had been subjected to all sorts of insults in the Magic Department.

They'd ask what kind of humiliation it was for the second-ranked student to lose to someone from the Martial Arts Department like me.

Of course, perhaps because I'd been active and making a name for myself lately, it was now being considered extenuating circumstances.

At that level, he couldn't help but lose.

Everyone had come to understand it that way.

However, regardless of that, Dorara's pride had taken a significant hit.

So, whenever he saw me, he would always grit his teeth.

"You, I heard. You're engaged to that bitch Sharlin, aren't you?"

Dorara scoffed the moment he saw me.

"You two, I knew it. I figured you were secretly hooking up behind everyone's backs."

It seemed Dorara had misunderstood my intervention for Sharlin in that way.

I looked at Dorara with a hint of pity.

"Must be nice, hanging out with a harlot's daughter."

And before I knew it, I was swinging my fist towards Dorara's face.

CRASH!

Dorara barely managed to activate a magic barrier.

This guy, after getting thoroughly beaten that time, his magic activation speed had improved.

But who was I?

CRRRRRUNCH!

Dorara's defensive magic began to crumple under my grip.

During that time, I, too, had improved my skills through various experiences.

In particular, I found it easy to gain an advantage against magic.

The remnant of the ancient dragon slumbering within my body.

The chilling energy it emitted showed a strong advantage against magic.

My frozen grasp solidified Dorara's defensive magic.

Then, the moment I exerted more force.

SHATTER!

Dorara's defensive magic shattered into countless pieces.

"You, you maniac!"

Dorara gasped, recognizing the power of the ancient dragon's magic, which he had only ever witnessed in individual matches.

His reaction showed he hadn't imagined it would be this powerful.

My hand firmly grabbed him by the collar.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Dorara tried to push me away, but my body, trained through arduous sessions with Aisha, was pure muscle.

There was no way a meager wizard's strength could shake me off.

"Sharlin is, for now, my fiancée."

Regardless of how it came about, Sharlin was my fiancée.

Who in the world would stand by silently while their fiancée was being insulted?

At the very least, I had no intention of letting it slide.

"If you carelessly wag your tongue again, I'll make sure you can never even twitch your lips. Understand?"

At the chilling warning, Dorara flinched.

The staff clutched in his hand could no longer be raised.

He knew well that if he messed up here, I would truly beat him to a pulp.

I roughly dropped Dorara.

Dorara's pride seemed severely wounded, steam practically rising from his head.

"You really haven't changed, have you? Isn't it about time you grew up a little?"

"Grow up, my ass! Who do you think is responsible for me being treated like this?!"

Rage dripped from Dorara's eyes.

It was well-known that he was ostracized in the Magic Department.

Of course, I was largely involved in that.

But his own usual behavior also played a significant role.

"If you care so much about that Sharlin, why don't you fix your own behavior? Especially when you're not even content with one woman, let alone two."

This again, huh?

Having just been called promiscuous by Professor Beganon, a headache began to throb.

And then, an unexpected remark slipped out.

"And on top of that, you're the kind of guy who steals other people's lovers, aren't you?"

What kind of crazy talk was this now?

I turned to Dorara with a bewildered expression.

"Stealing someone else's lover? Me?"

"There's a widespread rumor that Vinesha, the Magic Department's associate professor, was actually someone else's lover among the associate professors. Don't act so innocent."

Vinesha was someone else's lover among the associate professors?

I had no idea what kind of rumor this was either.

While rumors naturally tend to inflate themselves regardless of the truth, this was still going too far.

Just then, my gaze slowly began to change.

Because, for some reason, I felt like I knew where this rumor had originated.

That wasn't all.

I was also starting to guess who had been spreading the rumors about my promiscuity until now.

A while ago, I had heard something from Hania.

'Associate Professor Barkov.'

He had recently found a new object of affection.

That was Vinesha, who had just joined as an associate professor in the Magic Department.

And who was Vinesha showering with her affections?

It was me.

Associate Professor Barkov had, by chance, experienced two consecutive heartbreaks: Hania, and now Vinesha.

The main reason he suffered these heartbreaks was his own pathetic nature.

If he were a man capable of admitting such a thing, he wouldn't have been treated as pathetic in the first place.

That's why Barkov must have thought this:

'The reason I was rejected is because of Hanon Airey.'

At the end of such a petty thought process, Barkov chose only one course of action.

That was to spread rumors to discredit me.

Indiscriminate, malicious rumors.

Already amplified by my past behavior and notoriety, the rumors about me instantly ballooned.

He must have thought that if I were disparaged in such a way, Vinesha would leave me.

I roughly let go of Dorara and cracked my neck.

Being ambushed by his confession before had already been quite unpleasant.

It seemed it was about time I taught this person a lesson.

BOOOOM!

At that moment, an explosive sound echoed in my ears.

The moment I raised my head at the sudden explosion, my eyes met with something passing by just ahead.

A being with long, jet-black hair, at least eight feet tall.

Dozens of red eyes gleamed from its face, visible through its hair.

The moment we saw it, Dorara and I froze simultaneously.

And then, I realized.

That was the demon Vinesha had summoned from the otherworld.

'Barkov.'

This guy was really going to die.