I Want To Save the Academy Time-Limited Madman

125 – 9.5 Later Story – Laon Jena, Drunken Truth

The April night air was chilly.

“Where did you go alone on this night?”

My body, which had been soaked in alcohol, trembled. But I didn’t regret drinking.

The headache that felt like it was going to kill me, the anxiety about the future, and the pain all seemed to fade away a little.

“Whew.”

As I walked, feeling the cold wind, I felt a bit more sober. I thought I wasn’t drunk, but somehow, I was.

“Jena. Are you over there?”

I called out her name as I walked through the dense forest. When there was no response, I started to feel anxious.

Did she get lost? Or did she meet some kind of monster in the middle?

It was a worry that the usual Jena would never have. But the drunk Jena was different.

I had never seen her drunk before.

“I need to find her as quickly as possible.”

In the end, I gathered all the ghosts in the area, searching everywhere.

“Hmm…hmm…”

Finally, I found Jena.

She was sitting in a small chair, sleeping soundly.

.

“Jena.”

“Mm…?”

“Laon Jena.”

“Hmm…!”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… why wake someone who’s sleeping so well?”

Jena naturally lifted her head from my knee, pouting.

“I already know you’re not asleep.”

“…Cool. Hmm, yeah…”

Although my remark made Jena’s ears perk up, she continued to pretend to sleep, ignoring me.

In the awkward atmosphere, I lost my words and decided to just observe Jena.

Her face was adorable. No matter how many times I looked at it, it was always bright and cheerful.

When I gently brushed her disheveled hair to the side, she smiled, looking pleased.

Seeing her expression, I forgot what I was going to say.

Was it because I was drunk from the wine?

Or was it because the night air in the forest was too clear?

Or was it because my headache was constantly bothering me, making me lose my reason?

Or was it just my whimsical words?

“I’m not sure how I can not like this.”

“Hmm…?”

I said something I would never say normally.

“I can’t help but like it.”

I made a mistake I would never make normally.

The words I let slip couldn’t be taken back. Realizing my mistake, I checked to see if Jena was awake.

“….Hmm, hmm…”

Her flushed cheeks and ears, her quickened breathing, and her lips that seemed to be curling up uncontrollably.

I knew it.

Unfortunately, Laon Jena was awake.

“It’s not that kind of meaning, so you can rest assured.”

What a useless junior I was.

“What do you mean by that?!”

She hit my knee and stood up, looking like a time bomb about to explode.

“Yeah. You’re finally awake.”

“Ah.”

She looked at my thigh with a helpless expression. I ignored her gaze, which was still lingering on my knee, and continued speaking.

“So, what’s with you, a drunk person who didn’t come back and slept here all night?”

“…Hehe. I just felt like going with the flow, and when I woke up, I was here… Do I have a serious illness like sleepwalking or something?”

Jena, feigning nonchalance, changed the subject with an exaggerated action, her face flushing with embarrassment.

“Whatever illness I have, I’ll be healthier than you.”

“..Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her suspicious gaze narrowed, and I hastily changed the subject.

“There’s that. Anyway, we should head back soon. Vivian, Pu, and the nun are all worried.”

“…Vivian.”

As soon as Vivian’s name was mentioned, Jena’s entire body slumped, and she hung her head, her legs curled up.

It was a remarkably obvious change.

“Jena.”

“Does senior like that person…?”

I couldn’t respond to her question. Her voice wasn’t the usual bright, confident, and playful tone.

If I had a soul, it would’ve escaped from my body due to the depressing atmosphere. I broke out in a cold sweat again.

“…You’re not answering, so I guess that’s true. You don’t need to hide it from me. I’m not stupid, and I already know.”

Jena’s depression index began to skyrocket, piercing my core. For her, who was drunk, there was no limit.

Jena, still drunk, continued to speak in a feminine tone, which somehow sounded cute. I must be crazy.

“Senior Diarus, who tried so hard to save that person, Vivian, right? And that person turned the entire Academy against them…”

“…..”

“I heard rumors that they used to be in a romantic relationship, that they’d seen it all, and stuff… Anyway, Senior Diarus and Vivian were extremely close, right? And that person was finally saved…”

“…..”

“So… So… I initially thought I should congratulate senior. The person senior cares about is also important to me… So I risked my life to follow them to the 13th floor of the dungeon…”

“…..”

A small tear formed in the corner of her eye.

“But everyone at the Academy keeps talking about senior and Vivian… And senior doesn’t keep their distance, so…”

“…So?”

“So I can’t congratulate them…! I really am a bad person, you know? But I hate it. Senior and Vivian being together all day. I hate it too much…”

Jena pulled her knees closer and spoke in a quiet, timid voice. I didn’t say anything, just gazing at her.

“Senior is really bad too. Why don’t they just keep their distance? Why do they just stay silent?! It’s really bad when I think about it…”

“…..”

“The nun also tries to meet senior secretly, and the kids like senior, and Pu senior too, and even Latina. I just… I hate it all…”

Jena’s voice grew fainter.

I smiled wryly, having heard her genuine, unfiltered emotions.

Even if I’m not perceptive, I knew Jena had feelings for me beyond mere affection. It’s just that there were too many things on my mind, so I’d always quietly brushed it off.

“Vivian was trapped in a cold dungeon for years and was recently rescued. That’s why I had to leave them alone. There was no other intention.”

“…That may be true.”

“And other people, they’re all important to me too.”

“…..”

“Can’t you understand me a little, Jena?”

“..I, um…”

She shook her head, looking displeased.

I smiled and showed her something in my hand. Her eyes widened as she confirmed what I was holding.

“…It’s cream bread.”

“Half. Will you eat it?”

“Yes…”

She nodded her head, which was tilted to one side, and received half of the cream bread with a humble attitude.

I also ate the bread, feeling the cool night air on my skin. Jena smiled.

“It’s delicious.”

Her bright, innocent smile was infectious, and even I, who was watching, felt my mood lift. Looking back, Jena, the ‘main character’, always smiled like that.

No matter how difficult the situation, no matter how unbearable the trials, she always overcame them with a smile.

Despite being the main character, there were people at the academy who disliked Jena. They criticized her for never losing her smile.

Their insults went beyond the pale, targeting her family and even denying her worth as a person, but Jena never gave up on them.

I disliked that kind of main character.

I hated how she didn’t even think of taking revenge on those who had wronged her, but instead chose to help them.

Her foolish heart, which always put others first and got hurt the most, was infuriating.

No matter what choice I made, the main character would always save others, which was utterly disgusting.

Yes.

I really disliked that kind of you.

“Senior.”

But still,

“I’m…”

But still.

She was too kind, to the point of being foolish.

Laon Jena never lost her bright smile.

Even if she had to sacrifice her entire being, she wouldn’t give up on saving others.

“It’s like you’re the main character of my life.”

Before I knew it, she had become my main character.

Before I knew it, I had come to like my main character.

“I didn’t say you’re the main character of my life at this academy, did I?”

“That’s right… I still don’t know exactly what that means, but… does my life need to have only one main character? If there are two main characters, isn’t that twice as good?”

She smiled brightly, savoring the cream bread, and held out her fist.

“Senior is also the main character of my life! If Senior wasn’t there, I would have been eaten by the wolf and died, and I wouldn’t have been able to eat cream bread either!”

I accepted her fist bump and opened my mouth.

“Do as you please. Just don’t regret thinking of someone like that as your main character later… Hmm?”

Rustle.

I felt a presence and slightly turned my head. No, I tried to.

“So, this is to commemorate becoming the main character.”

Jena’s thin arm grabbed the back of my neck. Her face quickly approached mine.

“Jena…?”

“Shh.”

“Uh…!”

Her soft lips carefully overlapped with mine. This short moment, which lasted no more than five seconds, felt longer than anything else right now.

“Huh.”

Jena had a satisfied expression on her face, playfully flashing a victorious smile. That smile was not just ordinary.

“You…”

“Is this my first win? Loser… uh…?”

However, that laughter didn’t last long.

The combination of excessive drinking and cream bread had ultimately led to the worst possible outcome.

“Jena, no way.”

“Uweeeeeeek!!”

It was as if our lips touched, and my leg touched something unknown of hers. I couldn’t bear the horrific reality and quietly closed my eyes.

I’ll drink with you later.

“Sorry, senior…! This keeps coming out…!”

“My life is over…”

In the end, that day, I fell asleep wearing only my underwear. And to make matters worse, I had to carry Jena, who had passed out, back home.

That’s how Laon Jena’s story went.