NOVEL NEXT Chapter 277: Subdue
༺ Subdue ༻
“Frey? Is Lord Frey alive?”
Roswyn’s voice trembled as she answered the call.
“What in the world are you talking about?”
– Well, it’s hard to explain… Nevertheless, he’s alive!
Glare’s cheerful voice could be heard from the communication device.
– Is it good? No, should I say it’s a good thing…? Things are chaotic now that he’s back!
“Huh? Oh…?”
Roswyn looked completely at a loss, tilting her head.
– Click.She abruptly ended the call.
“It must be another dream…”
Roswyn mumbled with a sunken expression.
“It would be nice if it were real… It would have been really nice…”
Lost in thought, she suddenly pinched her cheek hard.
“Ouch?”
Contrary to her expectations, she felt intense pain in her cheek.
“It’s not… a dream?”
She mumbled and swiftly grabbed the magical communication device to make a call.
“Hey there! I-Is that trueeee!?”
– Y-Yes, that’s right. But why did you hang up…
“H-how? How could? He wasn’t really dead? But why…”
– There must have been news… Check it out!
Glare rambled nonstop but still kindly responded. Roswyn hastily left the room while muttering.
“Please be real, please be real, please be real…”
The few remaining servants looked at her strangely, but Roswyn didn’t care.
“Please… I beg you…”
For her, the only important thing now was that she could meet Frey, whom she had only seen in dreams for the past few days.
– Sssk…
With a desperate expression, she arrived at the front of the guild’s newspaper column and cautiously reached for the newspaper box.
“I-it’s real… It’s really true.”
After poring over the newspaper, she hurriedly ran outside the guild.
“C-carriage! Double the money. Someone, please stop there!”
Her eyes sparkled with hope for the first time in a while.
“Please stop right there!!”
Moments later, a carriage rushed toward the orientation venue.
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“Huff, huff…”
Roswyn descended from the carriage, her eyes tired and red, breathing heavily.
“E-excuse me… who…”
“Oh, Student Roswyn!”
The guards, already tense from the situation, tried to block her path when they noticed her disheveled appearance. However, a man stepped in, smiling as he approached her.
“I wondered why you didn’t come. We were worried that someone as talented as you might not come to our academy…”
The man was none other than the dean of the academy, Lionel.
“F-Frey!!”
“Pardon?”
“Where is Frey!?”
Roswyn asked him with a desperate expression. Lionel replied while scratching his head.
“He should be in the waiting room now, probably…”
“Waiting room! Waiting room!!”
“Oh my.”
Roswyn’s eyes lit up, and she ran toward the waiting room.
“Over there… Over there, Frey is…!”
A little further, and she would have the much-desired reunion.
Frey had appeared in her dreams over the past few days, smiling at her, and embraced the flowers she brought.
Despite all the pain and suffering she had inflicted on him, Frey continued to keep someone like her – a person with limited time – alive, going as far as making preparations for her continued survival even after his own death.
Hated by all, Frey was the only Hero capable of protecting this world.
‘E-even now… if I beg for forgiveness now…’
She rushed toward him, desperate to ask for forgiveness like she had in her dreams.
“Ageuk.”
Soon, she collided with something and fell.
“Ahhhh…”
Thanks to that, she stared blankly at the cold warning window before her as she wiped her tears and rubbed her forehead.
Helper System
[Warning! You cannot approach the Hero!]
“Why…?”
Roswyn was momentarily bewildered. She tilted her head, fixed her gaze on the absurd message, and muttered in disbelief.
Helper System
[Second Restriction: You cannot approach the Hero!]
The warning message left her speechless.
Helper System
[Since your system control has been transferred to ?#%, approaching the Hero may cause a system error.]
“Ah…”
Helper System
[To ensure the salvation of the world and your well-being, ‘contact’ with the Hero is restricted. Please understand.]
“……….”
She understood the reason for the barrier, but Roswyn was still lost in thought as she read the explanations before her.
“So… I was a hindrance…”
Her head drooped dejectedly.
“Worthless scum.”
“……?”
However, she snapped her head up again when a cold voice echoed in the waiting room.
‘Ah, no…’
She hesitantly leaned against the transparent barrier, peeking through the waiting room window. Soon, an expression of despair appeared on her face.
“Why are you acting like this, my dear sister?”
“…You’re disgusting, really.”
In the waiting room, Frey’s younger sister glared at him contemptuously.
“Professor? When will you answer our questions?”
“…What can we learn from someone who can’t answer such a simple question?”
Looking at his intruding younger sister with gentle eyes, Frey turned his gaze quietly at the sharp voice coming from the front.
“How many times have you evaded answering with vague rhetoric?”
“Did you really think that would work on us?”
Although they weren’t the Heroines in the Dark Tale Fantasy series, the sisters for the Horizon family had received much love solely for their performance. At this moment, they were harshly interrogating him.
“How did you survive the appointment ceremony? There are overwhelming testimonies and evidence that indicate you had a cooperative relationship with the Demon King’s Army, which held significant responsibilities. Do we have to learn to defeat the Demon King from someone like you?”
“Furthermore, how did you get the prophecy? You were either on the run or hiding, so how did you get hold of the relic the exploration team discovered? There’s no way they contacted you first.”
“Recently, you also had a scandal with Magic Tower’s second disciple. Perhaps there is an issue with the verification itself…”
Many people, with disdainful expressions, were questioning or staring at Frey.
Ruby’s assistant, the class vice president, was the first to raise her hand. She was the only daughter of Count Justiano, the ruler of the back alleys, and a collateral blood relative of the Moonlight family.
In the Dark Tale Fantasy, where people die in the blink of an eye, they were merely substitute members of the Hero Party and were used as shields during boss battles. Yet, he couldn’t even interact with them.
Of course, they could only enter the boss battles if they could survive.
They mostly died in the ‘Academy Battle’ before entering boss battles in the standard route or previous episodes.
“…Sigh.”
Despite being extras, they had a fandom due to their beauty and distinctive personalities. Seeing them attacking him like a swarm of bees, Frey chuckled bitterly.
“You seem a bit too heated… don’t you think?”
“………”
The only students not attacking Frey were Aishi, muttering restlessly, and Glare, who had a cold expression.
– Screech, screech…
“No, guys… don’t do that…”
Observing the situation, Roswyn scratched the wall from outside and muttered.
“We shouldn’t cause him more pain… please…”
Blood oozed from her nails.
“Answer me. What in the world are you doing…”
“Dear sister, I wanted to talk to the students.”
“I am not your sister.”
However, regardless of Roswyn’s wish, Aria pushed Frey even further.
“Since that day… I’m no longer your sister, Frey.”
“……..”
“Get your hand off me. What are you even planning?”
Frey grinned and reached his hand out toward Aria. Aria forcefully pushed away Frey’s hand with determination, going as far as using stellar mana.
“Stop it… please…”
Blocked by the transparent barrier, Roswyn could only knock on the wall. Eventually, she fell to her knees, pounding the wall desperately, and muttered.
“Frey is the Hero who is supposed to save you all……..”
However, her words didn’t reach the world outside.
No, it seemed like she never spoke those words. She was seemingly just moving her lips like a mute.
“Ugh…”
Realizing she couldn’t reveal “Frey’s identity,” she banged her head against the transparent wall and whispered.
“Please just let me in… just let me go inside the waiting room…”
The transparent wall began to shake slightly.
“As long as I don’t make physical contact… as long as we just don’t get too close. I still have to attend the academy… and…”
With a faint glimmer of hope, Roswyn desperately poured out those words.
“Eikk.”
The transparent wall blocking the waiting room moved a bit toward Frey, causing Roswyn to tumble to the floor.
“Gash, gasp…”
Without dwelling on the pain, she hastily opened the door and entered the waiting room, ready to shout out in protest.
“Stop it!!!”
However, just then, someone shouted before Roswyn could, and the waiting room fell into sudden silence.
“…Hm hm!”
It was Glare who had maintained a cold expression until then.
Helper System
[Achievement: First Direct Assistance]
Reward: Intelligence 0.1, Stamina 0.2, Helper Points 10pt
“……….”
Simultaneously, Roswyn, gazing at the window that had appeared before her, wore a dazed expression.
“Enough.”
“……..!!!”
With starlight gleaming in his eyes, Frey spoke in a low voice. And the entire waiting room, which had momentarily fallen silent due to Glare’s actions, remained frozen.
“That’s right, now you finally listen well.”
“I-I can’t breathe…”
“What is this? This… energy…”
It wasn’t just about the atmosphere.
All students—except Ruby and Glare—felt overwhelmed by Frey’s energy, displaying painful expressions. Even Vener, standing in a corner, felt the same way.
“Stupid, incompetent, pathetic scoundrel, Frey.”
In the room filled with heaving breaths and cold sweat, Frey quietly strolled around with hands on his back and began to speak.
“That’s my image known to the public.”
He headed toward the Horizon sisters, who had just attacked him.
“Initially, I was going to stick to that image until the end…”
Frey gently stroked one of the sister’s chin, who had cast aside the arrogant and haughty expression from earlier and was now trembling. As her gaze wavered, he continued with a chilling smile.
“Although it’s only for a special condition, now that I’ve become a teacher, I should show my true skills to you students, right?”
Frey looked into the sister’s eyes, which were filled with tears and had a resentful look, before turning to all the students and continuing to speak.
“Well, you might think this situation is naturally black magic.”
Some students flinched.
“However, if you’re a talented student… No, if you’re not an idiot, you’d know what’s going on right now.”
Following this statement, more students flinched.
“I’m just releasing as much mana as I can.”
That statement was a lie.
Frey intentionally controlled the release of his mana, fearing that it might damage the students’ mana circuits.
“…Hm.”
Realizing that some students had seen through his lie by observing their changing expressions, Frey smiled faintly.
“Now that I think about it, you’re all just a bunch of fools.”
Afterward, Frey spoke in a low voice.
“To idiots overwhelmed just because I’m releasing mana, do you think you have the qualifications to join the Hero Party?”
“Puhat!”
“Gasp… gasp…”
“D-darn it…”
As Frey stopped releasing mana, the sound of exhaling echoed from everywhere.
Regardless of status, position, or gender, everyone had a moment of just breathing to survive.
“……….”
After several tens of seconds passed, all the students’ gazes focused on Frey.
Although they were just extras, they were talents chosen from throughout the Empire. They had quickly recovered, but their attitude had changed since earlier.
Of course, they no longer explicitly confronted him, but they still looked at him with hostility and cold eyes, especially the Horizon sisters, who still had tears.
“This is what I wanted to say at the entrance ceremony… But it couldn’t be helped.”
Looking at them, Frey spoke with a cold expression.
“For the next year, all of you should do your best to defeat me.”
The students looked dumbfounded at his words. Frey quietly lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Regardless of your means and methods, if you manage to defeat me within a year, I’ll tell you how to defeat the Demon King.”
As he finished speaking, the surrounding atmosphere began to change.
“How about it, isn’t it interesting?”
Observing the mixture of emotions like resentment, anger, contempt, and even murderous intent around him, Frey turned his gaze toward Ruby.
– It seems like you want to maximize your point acquisition, huh?
Even in that situation, Ruby casually shot mental transmission at him.
– Do you plan to settle things within the next year, Frey?
Looking at her, Frey spoke in a low voice.
“Of course, the same goes for you, Hero.”
“Hmm?”
“If you defeat me, I’ll share the method to defeat the Demon King with you, Hero.”
Ruby frowned quietly at those words.
“Why would you do that?”
Smiling brightly at her, Frey responded with another question.
“Do you not have the confidence to defeat me?”
“……..”
“Or is there a reason you can’t attack me…?”
Frey said, revealing his smiling eyes. Ruby also responded with a smile.
“Let’s discuss that later. Is it okay, Professor?”
The threatening atmosphere from the strange tension between Frey and Ruby spread throughout the room.
“…How cool.”
Glare mumbled absentmindedly as she watched the scene before her.
“Is he the true Hero?”
“…!”
Roswyn, who had been lying pitifully on the floor, felt cold sweat trickle down her back.
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Meanwhile…
“La la la~ lala~”
“Saintess… where are you in such a hurry to go…?”
Ferloche, cheerfully singing while looking out the carriage window, responded energetically to the nun looking at her with concern.
“I’m going to teach Frey how to use his reward!”
“…Pardon?”
Despite the carriage’s rapid motion distorting her voice, the nun heard the name ‘Frey’ and asked incredulously.
“I’m going to meet Frey to court him? Propagation? Anyway, I’m going to fulfill its request!”
“Pardon? What in the world are you talking about!?”
“I’ll chat with Lady Serena and then feed Lord Frey a well-cooked meal!”
Ferloche’s bomb-like statement made the nun’s eyes widen. She asked another question, and in response, Ferloche murmured.
“In preparation for the upcoming Fourth Ordeal. It’s about time for me to participate as well…”
She gently caressed her lower abdomen and gazed at the slowly setting sun, her eyes turning cold.
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