Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight - Chapter 34

Chapter 34 –  Sometimes, Running Away in Embarrassment Doesn’t Help.

—–CROW—–

What is the most important thing in a group project?

“Now then, gentlemen, since we’ve arrived at the forest…”

It’s not the leader who charges ahead.  It’s the person in the back who ensures everyone pulls their weight.

“Each group should choose a leader and report to me.”

Yes, the leader is the most important.

Dennis, who had teleported all the freshmen using a three-dimensional magic circle, sighed as if relieved.

“Laplace. How are you feeling?”

“A bit better, Dennis.”

Judging from his conversation with Laplace in the distance, they seemed to have escaped the Demon Lord’s calculations.  Even world-altering Authority had its limits.

He could finally relax. The tension drained from his body. He took a deep breath.

“So, Helmet guy is our leader, right?”

“Ah, I suppose so.  I’m the best at using tools… after all.”

He almost made another slip-up.

Perhaps he was so worried about the Saintess’s involvement.  Even though he had been a working adult before possessing Licht, he was now the same age as his classmates.

“Isn’t it weapons, not tools? You’re good with a sword!”

The red-haired mage sensed something was off. Ariel was scary when she was like this. But why was she a tsundere despite her perceptiveness?

“That’s true. He’s the guy who matches Artifacts with a steel sword.”

“Licht, strong.”

The blond hero and the glass knight nodded simultaneously.  Thankfully, their agreement helped him gloss over it.

“Thank you. I’ll let Professor Dennis know.”

<Endless Monster Forest>.

The faculty said they would protect them at night, but it was still daytime. This meant they could encounter monsters soon and needed to prepare and strategize.

“We have two options: hunt the highest-ranking monster or hunt as many monsters as possible.”

He racked his brain to get a high score. Kainel and Mardol were strong, and this would be a good opportunity to properly witness Ariel’s magic.

“Which method is easier, Licht?”

“I’ll tell you after I gather everyone’s opinions.”

The most important principle of group projects: if you rush into something, it’s likely to fail. He had to listen to and consider everyone’s opinions first.

He asked Kainel and Ariel for their input.  Then, a muffled voice came from beside him.

“…Strong one.”

“I want to hunt many! I have new fireworks-like magic for that, Helmet guy!”

“I’m with Mardol, a strong one. To practice applying Shine Strike.”

The opinions were split 2 to 1. This was a problem.  He had intended to go for the larger quantity.

“My recommendation is something like Giant Ants or Armored Bees, which move in swarms… although they are insects…”

He put his hand on his chin.  Since they had the Crimson Mage, he thought targeting these types of monsters and using area-of-effect magic would be a good strategy.

‘This place could be dangerous since unknown monsters might appear.’

In reality, monster strategy depended heavily on information. Knowing their weaknesses made things much easier.  In the game, damage dealt could be doubled or halved depending on elemental matchups.

He glanced at his party members and made eye contact with Mardol.  Why was the Crown Prince staring so intensely?  He was momentarily startled.

“Well… as you all said, strong monsters are also fine.”

After finishing his calculations, he spoke to them indirectly. As long as it wasn’t a Demon Lord or an Apostle, they were skilled enough to avoid danger.

“Our team composition is quite good.”

Ariel used fire, Kainel used light, and the glass knight likely used earth, as her concept involved manipulating steel, which was related to earth.

Theoretically, there wasn’t an element they couldn’t handle. Light and darkness countered each other, and Ariel and Mardol could offset each other’s weaknesses.

“Is that so? But what element does Helmet guy use?”

“…”

Ariel wore a cat-like expression. She was teasing him.  Admittedly, people like him, with low mana and distorted circuits resulting in an unknown element, were rare.

“Darkness… perhaps?”

He thought it was probably darkness.  The only other possibility was water.  He liked edgy things and used Shadow Slash effectively.

“Ariel, of course Licht is attributeless…!”

“Licht, attributeless…?”

Kainel spoke jokingly. The glass knight, hearing this, stared at him intently as if it were true. There was no such thing in the game, Mardol.

“…I should just keep quiet.”

He decided to let them do as they pleased.  Since things had turned out this way, he had to raise the Love meter between the blond lion and the red cat. Kainel had been teasing him for a while now, so this was a good opportunity.

He recalled his first day at the academy. It had been quite a while since then.

“…The problem is that we don’t know which monsters are high-ranking since this is our first time here.”

“Right, Licht.”

“Wouldn’t our score accumulate if we just hunt indiscriminately?”

“No. We need to understand our opponents first.”

Even if they could hunt freely, they shouldn’t underestimate the monsters.  That was the reason why he couldn’t use Void Slash against the Shadow Wolf.

‘It could have been dangerous if the bonfire had gone out, plunging us into complete darkness.’

If Kainel had been stronger and proficient with the holy sword of light, it might have been different, but considering the Shadow Wolf’s habit of hiding in shadows, he might not have been able to react.

“As we saw with the Shadow Wolf before, we need to be cautious as the monsters’ rank increases, even though we are strong.”

“Since Licht says so…”

He sighed.  They were too optimistic and indecisive.  At times like this, being a hero was slightly annoying.  This was a typical blond lion trait.

“I think so too.  It doesn’t hurt to be careful.  Right, Mardol?”

“Right, Ariel.”

Ariel spoke to the glass knight, her red hair fluttering in the wind.

She had a knack for attracting heroines. It was the same during team formation earlier… and with Chartinese, plot conveniences seemed to occur as if intended by the developers.

‘I can’t let our Saintess anxiously wait for her husband who’s out gallivanting with other women.’

That’s what happened in <Knight Heart>, where the harem route was first implemented.  He had only glimpsed at a post about it in the game community, but even that little bit made him cough up blood.

He should think of happier memories instead. Dwelling on that would reopen old wounds.  He reminisced for a moment.

[Welcome…! Knight! I’ve been waiting for you!]

He remembered being severely ill during his school days and being bedridden for several days.

When he finally recovered and turned on the game, a white-haired woman with a wagging white tail greeted him cheerfully.

[You were gone from the party for three days, you should have at least told me, Knight!]

This message appeared when you didn’t log in to the game.  It must have been because he was absent for three days. He had been very ill.

He shouldn’t have worried the Saintess, but he had collapsed and recovered repeatedly, and three days had passed. He had even taken sick leave from school.

[I was worried you might be sick…!]

This was why he loved Knight Heart. It felt like it healed his lonely heart.

As he ate the delivered porridge and read the dialogue on the screen, his appetite, which had vanished due to his cold, returned.

Then, a return reward notification appeared, triggering an event.

[Here, the nameless Saintess has prepared something for you, Knight!]

The pure white Saintess patted her chest confidently and handed an item to his character.

[Ta-da~! Hehe, what do you think?  It’s my masterpiece…!]

A food item called “Beef Stew” that restored 10 HP.

It was essentially trash among trash items.  It was infamous in the game community for taking up inventory space and being practically useless.

“Thank you, Saintess.”

But at the time, perhaps because he was eating beef and vegetable porridge, the item she handed him with a bright smile felt precious.

Even though it seemed meaningless to others.

[How is it? I’m quite a good cook, aren’t I…?]

“Indeed. It has beef and vegetables for good health.”

She was an NPC with low healing power, used only in the early game.  She shouldn’t have had a cooking skill.

Therefore, the description said the taste was crude.  It didn’t matter to him. It was the thought that counted.

[Try it now, Knight!  It will give you strength…!]

He liked how she cheered him on so brightly.

Although Western and Eastern cuisine were different, the ingredients were similar.  Tears welled up in his eyes as he chewed and swallowed his rice while looking at the monitor.

[Hehe, I hope this makes you visit me more often, Knight!]

He thought he was used to being alone and sick, but when she spoke those kind words, reality hit him, and his heart ached with loneliness.

[A Saintess is a wolf, so she dies if she’s lonely… Sob.]

The Saintess pretended to cry and expressed her feelings jokingly.

Her icy demeanor changed like this once you became close to her; how could he not be affectionate towards her?

It felt like she was truly there with him in his lonely room. That was why he transferred it to <Knight Heart> later using an auction house exploit.

They said you couldn’t bring common-grade or lower items from the original game?  Then he would find a way.

[Hehe, I can be quite resourceful too, Knight!]

When he used about half of the Beef Stew, she gave him a bright, gentle smile and spoke in her characteristically cute voice.

…Although her lines and voice acting were mismatched since she wasn’t a main character.

It was food given to him by the Saintess; how could he not bring it with him?  Sending it through mail was blocked, so he had to think of a way.

The messages that followed also resonated deeply with him.

[So, are you feeling better now?]

[I don’t know what happened… but, Knight.]

[Honestly, I was very worried.  I thought you might have disappeared.]

As soon as he logged in, she would be waiting for him, pacing back and forth or fidgeting around the room, unable to relax.

[I’m just a nameless Saintess, so it’s okay if you have other things to do, Knight. But…]

Or he would see the Saintess dozing off in front of a cold dinner, unable to sleep even at dawn.

[…If you think of me, please visit <Knight Heart> anytime, Knight.]

The original game used this method to address the long loading times, a drawback of classic games.  To sublimate the waiting time before logging in like this…

[I’ll always be waiting for you, Knight.]

Despite her encouraging words, her wolf ears and tail drooped with dejection.

After that, he probably never missed a login until he reached 10,000 hours.  Targeting sick people like this was unfair.  It was like an offside in soccer.

Lost in thought, the red-haired mage spoke to him.

“Helmet guy!”

“…Ariel.  Are you done with your small talk?”

It seemed their conversation with Mardol had ended.  He had been happy, reminiscing about good memories.

‘Ariel would be fine since Kainel was there.’

He had been observing them, and aside from their quiet chatter, he didn’t sense any romantic vibes. He removed his hand from his chin.

“I was just curious since you two seem close.”

“Mardol is nice! He likes cute things… and sweets…!”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true, Ariel.”

Indeed, the current Lupus seemed to be on the right track.  The bad rumors circulating in the Empire seemed to be nonexistent, he wasn’t a womanizer targeting Ariel…

He had even taught Licht the famous Imperial Wolf Fang technique and shared his umbrella with him when it was raining.

‘If that’s the case… I just need to make him focus on our Saintess. Let’s try to avoid the harem route.’

More than anything, he was a bit too perfect. He was skilled in swordsmanship and wealthy.  If it weren’t for his seemingly cold and aloof demeanor, he would be the perfect husband.

‘Honestly, I’m quite envious.’

He sighed.  It might be different if he had some connection with the Saintess, but five years had already passed since he possessed Licht.

If they were meant to be, it would have happened by now…

“Licht, what are you doing?”

The glass knight tilted her head as she looked at him.  

Being between the perceptive red cat and the Crown Prince, who seemed to have a potential love route with the nameless Saintess, made me feel suffocated.

“…It’s nothing.  I was just lost in thought.”

Even while acknowledging that the current Crown Prince wasn’t a bad person, he still felt conflicted.

He needed more time to forget the Saintess.

—–CROW—–