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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Angel Dust]
[Proofreader – ChiSync]
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Chapter 9
[Selena? Selena? Selena!]
No matter how much her brother called her name through the communication device, Selena was just rolling her eyes in confusion.
‘Oh my god. Oh my god! What have I…!’
Three years and six months ago, when I had just joined the Academy.
I received all sorts of confessions from my seniors during the freshmen welcome party.
At first, I politely declined with a smile, not hiding my apologetic tone.
But as one turned into two, and two turned into four, she grew tired.
My reactions became sharper, and I finally cut them off coldly.
That was the case with Karl, who confessed when I was at my coldest.
I was so angry at the outpouring of confessions that it was impossible to stay in the academy.
It was never about Karl, af if I was annoyed.
I ended up being overly cold-hearted than necessary.
“Well. Sorry. But, can we still be friends?”
I never saw Carl again at the Academy after that day.
I was a little worried, so I looked into it and found out that he had taken a leave of absence, but I never heard from him again.
Even after Karl disappeared, the confessions continued to come from other students.
Among them were students from the same year like Shulifen, Wilhelm, Alexander, and Joachim.
Naturally, I rejected all of them, but not as sharply as before.
I had grown accustomed to it.
And I felt sorry for having been too harsh on Karl.
As time passed, on a busy day preparing for graduation in the second semester of my fourth year.
“Selena. That guy came back to school.”
“Huh?”
“Karl. He’s back.”
Unexpected news from Etvin. Karl, who had been missing for over three years, had returned.
I met him. It was indeed Karl. Something seemed different about him, but regardless, it was him.
And then I heard the shocking news right there.
“He enlisted?”
He denied it, but the timing was too perfect.
His confession was met with a sharper reaction than it needed.
And the fact that he immediately took a leave of absence from school, enlisted as a soldier despite being a nobleman, and fought in a war.
No matter how I think about it, I’m sure I’m partly to blame for what he’s been through.
But that wasn’t the end of it. He saved my brother in the midst of the war.
The overflowing sense of guilt I had been carrying unknowingly came rushing out.
[Selena. Are you listening to me―]
I quickly got up from my seat and went straight to find Karl.
Was he really the unnamed hero who saved my brother?
If so, why didn’t he tell me directly that it was him when I was talking about it?
Was he worried that I would feel guilty or burdened?!
‘Idiot. Idiot! You idiot!!’
Not knowing he was such a good person, I vented my accumulated frustration on him.
I had to speak up. Apologize. Thank him. It was necessary.
But despite searching for him all day, I couldn’t find Karl.
‘He’s avoiding me. Maybe he thinks I’ll feel uncomfortable. That’s why he’s doing this. It must be!’
I clenched my fists and banged my head in frustration, blaming myself relentlessly.
Meanwhile.
“Huh. No one would find me here.”
Somewhere in the academy, away from the throng of students, Karl was stuck.
His stealth skills as a soldier, all the way up to the rank of sergeant in his later years, are second to none.
It was no wonder Selena couldn’t find him.
* * *
No one can find me. I am a wall. I am an object.
I also became a sergeant. Yes. I am the Dark Knight. Adun Toridas…!
Three days have passed since I was confirmed as a recipient of the Medal of Honor.
During those three days, I hid every day except for attending classes.
If someone saw me, they would think I was an escaped convict. That’s how thoroughly I hid.
It’s not like this is a war zone, but what can I do?
If I tried to walk normally, people would gather around saying, ‘Look, there’s the Elf Slayer!’!
My attempts to make them listen to me were futile. Everyone’s attention was fixated on the Medal of Honor.
But I, the person in question, didn’t feel anything special about it.
I knew the medal was prestigious, but it seemed like an overreaction.
If someone heard about it, they might think I saved a princess or a crown prince!
‘Are they going to send assassins after me because of the rumors?’
Damn, if that really happened, it would be so unfair.
I could count on my fingers how many elves I killed with the shots I fired.
My marksmanship was so precise that even an angel would turn into a devil.
Shooting ten shots and hitting three was a miracle achieved by this body.
I’ve even squandered the taxes paid by the Imperial citizens like crap several times.
But what can I do? The guns here are so different from the ones I used.
The guns here shot 700 Abadda Kedavras per minute, but not here.
I don’t know if they made me shoot this or if they wanted me to be better at swordsmanship.
I feel like I understand why war is essential for human advancement.
Someone with a brilliant idea like, ‘Let’s make something better to fight with instead of using these crappy things!’ must have existed at least once.
“Senior Karl. I’ll postpone the group project meeting for now. It’s… not the right time, is it?”
“…I’m going crazy for real.”
We’re in groups, we should at least meet and greet each other.
They didn’t say hello and said, ‘Senior!’ so there was no progress.
Meanwhile, the girls were looking at their classmates with disgust.
If they were fellow soldiers like me, it would have been somewhat understandable.
But these guys were all civilians. No, they weren’t even draft candidates, were they?
In any case, there was no reason to tell these chicks war stories.
Talking about the army is only interesting to those who know.
Whether it was PX disease, boiler disease, or barber disease, it didn’t matter. There was something only veterans could understand.
Otherwise, interesting stories would only make civilians scratch their heads.
Thud!―
Hmm, did the trackers manage to follow me here? It seems it’s time to leave this place now.
This place, with few people inside the building. A place I grew accustomed to… Goodbye…
“Karl!”
What, what’s this? Exposed just like that? Even our captain couldn’t do this, could he?
He only had this level of influence. But that person couldn’t possibly be here.
Things to do. Let’s bail for now. If caught, they’ll ask how many elf ears I’ve cut off. I don’t need that.
“Karl! Wait, wait!”
“…Selena?”
Turning around, I saw Selena, who demonstrated tracking skills of a stalker.
“Stop right there. Freeze. Hands up. I won’t move so please don’t shoot.”
“It was you?!”
“I said I won’t move so… huh?”
“The person who saved my brother. The nameless hero. That was you, Karl?”
As Selena spoke, I suddenly felt intensely embarrassed.
I don’t know why. It just felt like my secret, which I wanted to keep hidden, had been exposed.
I didn’t do anything bad, in fact, I did something really good.
And yet, I don’t know why I felt that way.
“Sigh, sigh.”
As Selena approached, breathing heavily, she looked at me.
“Honestly.”
“Huh?”
“Tell me honestly. Karl. Was it really… not because of me?”
“What… No way. Me enlisting as a soldier?”
“Yeah. That. You, a noble, not even an officer, choose to live the life of a soldier. And even being deployed to war, experiencing those difficult times. All of it.”
I couldn’t answer right away. Selena’s words were true.
Why did I do such a crazy thing? It was to forget the pain and embarrassment of what had happened.
It’s not something a sane person could do, but in any case, she was the cause.
It was impossible to say that there was no connection at all.
To be honest, I’m a little hurt. You could have rejected me in a way that didn’t hurt so much.
I heard that you smiled and rejected other humans, so why did you give me the cold shoulder?
I understand everything else, but I’m sad that I was the only one who was treated so coldly! Selena!!
“I told you, Selena. It wasn’t because of you.”
Despite that, I once again gave her a definite answer.
It wasn’t because of her. Her actions weren’t the cause of my unhappiness.
My response to Selena wasn’t just due to pride.
If I admitted it, all my suffering and memories would be reduced to nothing.
I thought it was right for me to bear everything because it was ultimately my choice.
“Really…? Are you sure, it was not because of me…?”
“I told you. I might seem a bit strange, but I’m not some crazy guy who enlisted just because he got rejected. I just wanted it. It was my decision, my action. That’s all.”
* * *
Until the end. Karl never blamed me.
He told me once that it was okay. I told him it was okay to be honest.
He always protected me. He smiled at me, just like he did back then.
Looking at him like that, I couldn’t help but smile vaguely.
Why did I reject his confession more adamantly than usual?
Was it because I considered the subsequent advances from men unworthy of consideration?
Over time, I couldn’t forget Karl and kept him in a corner of my heart.
It wasn’t simply because I felt sorry.
It was just because I couldn’t forget him, because he kept coming to mind and bothering me.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Angel Dust]
[Proofreader – ChiSync]
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