Episode 35: The Popular Sideu? (5)
Trudge, trudge.
Sideu passed by the fallen Haemondeu and headed toward Reiya.
A bright smile spread across her face, dragged here without even being able to wear her glasses.
Come to think of it, it was the first time he had seen her face without them.
“Are you okay? Reireu will be worried.”
“I-I’m okay! Thank you so much….”
The starlight of the lake filled the girl’s face.
Freckles boasting their usual presence and thick, cherry-like lips.
But her eyes, freed from the thick glasses, were large and round like a squirrel’s.
The eyes that had looked as small as knife scars all this time had been an illusion created by the glass lenses.
“Are you okay too? You’re not hurt?”
“Huh? Yeah! I’m okay too! You came to save me after all, right? I’m so happy!”
Next, his gaze turned to Airiseu.
When he undid her bonds, the vicious girl embraced Sideu.
All she directed at Haemondeu, who was begging for help, was a sharp gaze.
Still, since their relationship was awkward, when he pushed Airiseu away, the gaze of the silent Reiya changed.
At her trembling gesture as if she had seen something disgusting, Airiseu snorted.
‘What? Are you upset because I stole your man?’
Flipping her long hair, Airiseu looked down at Reiya.
The moment she smiled, feeling the jealous gaze, words that Airiseu could never have imagined came from Reiya’s mouth.
“She’s the culprit. I heard everything. That Airiseu planned this with Haemondeu!”
“What?”
Sideu turned his head at the words spoken clearly.
Hit by facts at an unexpected moment, Airiseu turned pale.
She had definitely believed Reiya was brought here after being properly knocked out…….
But Reiya, who had been perfectly awake, had eavesdropped on their conversation.
“No… she must have heard something wrong……. You know too! This girl is a bit crazy! Didn’t she hear things because she was too surprised? Right? Why would I with this man…….”
“You said you secured a position in the family. You said you saw him carrying a magic tool after his bath. You said that was proof of the Ego Weapon!”
Reiya spat out the long sentence without stumbling.
The story after the bath was something only Airiseu and Sideu knew.
Sideu shot a look at Airiseu with a heavily distorted face.
“No… that’s…….”
At the atmosphere that reversed in an instant, Airiseu glanced at Haemondeu.
At that moment, the main culprit of this incident let out a hideous struggle.
“You damn girl!”
“Kyaaak!”
Airiseu lunged at Reiya and they tumbled.
Rolling by the lakeside, the two girls grabbed each other’s hair.
The moment Sideu tried to intervene and stop them, a sharp dagger appeared between them.
“Haemondeu! Snatch the magic tool! Right now!”
“Y… yes?”
The black obsidian blade shone as it was pointed at Reiya’s neck.
The blue light of the lake illuminated the white neck and black blade in turn.
Haemondeu was dumbfounded to see Airiseu, who had become an ally again as if flipping the palm of her hand.
Sideu, who had been casting magic, glared sharply at the two.
But there was no hesitation in the blade aimed at Reiya.
Unlike Haemondeu, she was a girl showing what pure evil was.
“Can’t you hear me? Hand over the magic tool! I said throw it on the ground!”
“Th-that’s right! Can’t you hear? If you want to save Reiya, hand over the magic tool!”
“…….”
The boy frowned at the two beasts howling in unison.
Just what was this magic tool that they would change this much for?
After glancing at Reiya, whose eyes were filled with tears, Sideu opened his mouth.
He didn’t know how long the timid girl could hold out.
“Is it really okay with just my passbook? You’ll let her go if I give you just that?”
“Oh, you talk too much. As expected of a scholarship student acting all high and mighty! Aren’t you going to hand it over quickly?”
Red blood seeped from the tip of the threatening blade.
Large droplets flowed from the cowering girl’s eyes.
Realizing her madness was no joke, Haemondeu also stretched out his hand and urged.
It was impressive how he fidgeted while reading the room.
“H-Hurry up and hand it over! Nobody will get hurt if you just hand that over! Believe me!”
‘Sigh.’
Sideu knew that gaze.
The emotion of pouring out evil even at the cost of one’s life.
Airiseu’s face was the same as Jii’s face when she tore scrolls without regard for consequences.
According to the original plan, she would have pinned everything on Haemondeu at a moment like this, but if there was a witness, things were different.
The cornered girl had no intention of leaving the two alone.
“Fine, okay. Take it.”
Sideu pulled out the passbook from his left chest.
When he undid the top button of his shirt, a rectangular bundle of papers appeared.
Color returned to Airiseu’s face at the appearance of the item she had seen.
“Y-You’re giving it?”
“Take it.”
Puzzled by how readily he handed it over, Haemondeu snatched the passbook.
Sideu’s brow furrowed at his changing expression as he licked his lips.
The man, having secured the item, walked toward Airiseu with lighter steps than before.
But the obsidian blade aimed at Reiya’s neck showed no signs of retreating.
Because she hadn’t intended to let a witness live from the start.
‘I have to hit Airiseu’s right arm.’
The Lightning Bolt he had cast beforehand crackled.
Tingling electricity stimulated his forearm like a bullet ready to fire.
There was only one chance to save Reiya.
He had to aim for the moment Haemondeu handed over the passbook.
‘Stay calm.’
Sideu nodded toward Reiya.
It was a look telling her to believe in him and wait.
The girl with tears welling up looked like she would burst into crying at any moment.
However, a smile spread across Airiseu’s lips when she spotted this gaze.
Fifteen, pure evil.
Vileness knew no age.
Soon, unhesitating evil was loaded onto the knife’s tip.
“Po-portal!”
But it was Reiya who opened her mouth first.
Airiseu’s eyes widened, perhaps not having thought this coward would step up first.
Moreover, at the incantation for magic he didn’t know, Haemondeu also looked around.
And the man’s gaze was directed above Airiseu’s head.
“Y-Young lady, your head!”
“My head? Kyaaak!”
Crash!
In the startling moment.
Countless books poured down from the empty air.
Encyclopedias, thick grimoires, magic books…….
At the avalanche of books pouring down regardless of type, both Haemondeu and Airiseu were bewildered.
Thud! Thud!
“Keuk! Kyak!”
At the critical moment, Reiya poured out books through a portal connected to the library.
The obsidian dagger had long since disappeared, swept away by the pile of books.
Sideu also opened his mouth at the situation that occurred in an instant.
“You wicked girl!”
Smack!
“Keuk!”
Reiya grabbed a thick book and smashed it into Airiseu’s face.
A dull impact from a phonebook-sized book exploded.
The situation became chaos amid the wave of pouring books.
By the time Sideu came to his senses and grabbed the white hand, the two were already buried under a pile of books.
“Let’s go! Hurry!”
“B-But what about your passbook?”
“It’s fine! Let’s hurry to the Academy!”
Sideu grabbed the thin wrist and ran into the forest.
Starlight brightly illuminated the path where he had pursued Haemondeu.
But Reiya was on the verge of tears, thinking Sideu had his passbook stolen because of her.
Though she had counterattacked refreshingly at the last moment, she seemed frustrated that she had become a burden.
“Because of me, your thing…….”
“No. That’s okay.”
Looking at the approaching Academy, Sideu smiled brightly.
And when he put his hand into his chest pocket, the passbook he had handed over had returned like a magic show.
Pointing at the intact passbook, Sideu scratched his head.
“What you saw today is a secret from Reireu too. Got it?”
“Huh? Yeah…….”
Under the blue starlight.
The girl’s face seemed slightly red.
Smiling brightly, Sideu put the passbook into his bosom.
It was the end of a brief commotion.
* * *
“Sigh… walk faster! If we get caught, I’ll say you used brainwashing magic! No, shall we go back right now and say that instead?”
“Haa… please consider my age! Heuk, when you reach my age…….”
“Is age the problem? Your body is the problem!”
Looking at the man staggering behind, Airiseu let out a sigh.
The two who had stolen a nonexistent passbook crossed the mountain and headed toward the Kingdom.
Having just thought of the excuse that she was brainwashed, she regretted not doing so from the beginning.
“Heok, heok…….”
Haemondeu, drenched in sweat, barely crossed over a hill.
Airiseu, disheveled and with her hair down, was not in good shape either, but Haemondeu seemed to have aged overnight.
In fact, it would have been a good thing if he had exercised like this.
“Heok… if we really get to the family, will they take care of everything? I’ll be okay too, right?”
“Shut up and follow me! You really can’t do a single thing right…….”
The disgruntled girl glared at the man.
The sulking girl didn’t seem to have a shred of regret or self-blame.
The path was devoid of people as she grumbled, blaming only the man behind her.
It had already been four hours since they came down from the lake.
The Kingdom was still a distant journey requiring several more days of walking.
“That item. It better not be useless.”
“Yes? Oh my, didn’t you see Sideu? He got so strong! Hehe!”
The girl’s complaints were directed at Haemondeu.
As they were crossing such a high hill, a loud sound rang out.
Boom!
“Wh… what? What’s happening! Over there, something’s over there!”
“Oh my, young lady, you worry too much! The Kingdom’s Battle Magician Haemondeu is right here, what is there to worry about! Hehe!”
Combing his few remaining hairs, Haemondeu smiled brightly.
Perhaps because it was wet with sweat, his hair looked even more pathetic.
Anyway, thinking of the passbook taken from Sideu, the man smiled leisurely.
At best, what would come out on such a trail was a goblin, or at most a dire wolf.
He thought if he showed a splendid display here, their relationship would improve.
But when a head appeared above the tall trees, the man’s expression hardened.
A being beyond imagination had appeared.
“Fee-fi-fo-fum.”
Crack, crunch!
The vast forest was pushed aside with a single gesture.
To them, it was as light an action as flipping their hair.
The two gulped at the appearance of the giant monster.
“Hic!”
“Heok!”
A height that easily surpassed the tops of the tall trees.
Looking at the two who were too surprised to close their mouths, the monster blinked.
Perhaps because a wart on one eye prevented it from opening properly, the creature’s one eye slowly blinked as it sized up its prey.
“G-g-g-g-g-g-giant!”
The two couldn’t even open their mouths.
A mid-sized giant easily surpassing five meters.
A face full of hideous warts and scars did not welcome strangers.
With just a grotesquely wriggling tongue and teeth, it welcomed the two as a late-night snack.
“Wh-what do we do! Hurry!”
Airiseu backed away little by little.
Though not on the dragon level, magic didn’t work on giants.
Of course, it wasn’t that they had magic resistance or special power, but simply that their toughness was tremendous.
Looking at the urgently shouting Airiseu, Haemondeu cackled.
It seemed he found the frightened girl cute.
“Hehe… well now, it’s time to use the magic tool we obtained! Leave it to me! Where is it…….”
At the terrible giant’s appearance, Haemondeu searched for the passbook.
Having exhausted his mana fighting Sideu, the only thing he could count on was that magic tool.
“Hm?”
As he rummaged through his inner pocket looking for it, his hand grasped nothing.
Instead, the man caught in the giant’s hand simply rose into the air.
“Wh… what? Young lady, save me! Help me! Hel… kuaaak!”
The face of the man held like a hotdog distorted in terror.
There was no time to counter with magic, no time to use any special tricks.
Realizing the stolen passbook was nowhere to be found, Haemondeu screamed like a child.
He didn’t even glance at the lamp, which had been no help from the start.
“Kuaaak!”
Dirty teeth opened wide before the surprised man.
The creature’s teeth were full of filthy debris to the extent that one could tell what it had eaten for lunch.
Airiseu had already fled.
Haemondeu’s expression twisted in despair.
“Ha… haa… haaa……!”
The cave-like throat approached and the man’s vision darkened.
He would have been better off remaining defeated by Sideu at the lakeside…….
But regrets were all that remained.
That was Haemondeu’s end.
- To be continued in Chapter 36 -