Chapter 9
“Please, I beg of you! Having such talent and refusing to become a mage is a loss not just for the Barfulus Kingdom, but for all humanity!”
Right after confirming Lucy’s magical talent, Professor Chanelle had been clinging on almost pleadingly.
For reference, I never explicitly said I wouldn’t make Lucy a mage.
The most important thing is Lucy’s own will, so I told her to think it over properly before coming back. But somehow Professor Chanelle misunderstood and kept whining.
“We haven’t said we won’t do it. Just that we need to think about it…”
“There’s nothing to think about! Lucy’s talent is real! Considering her age, it’s already late to start!”
Sheesh, this woman doesn’t listen at all.
I get what she’s saying, but she keeps repeating herself without hearing me, which is starting to annoy me.
While I was considering knocking her out politely, Professor Chanelle suddenly grabbed my hand.
“I beg you, Mr. Adam! Lucy absolutely must become a mage…Gyaah?!”
Suddenly screaming, Professor Chanelle stepped back.
Her wrist looked badly burned as if by fire, though I didn’t do it.
Though I’m not an expert in magic, apparently when Lucy grabbed Professor Chanelle’s hand while holding mine, something ignited and burned her wrist.
“Don’t, don’t touch me without permission…”
Either scared by her own actions or unfamiliar emotions, Lucy was stuttering and trembling, yet showed the same clear murderous intent I’d seen before in Princess Josephine’s room.
This is troublesome. It’s stronger than last time.
“Incredible… Without any training, she naturally infused mana with an attribute…”
Meanwhile, despite being injured, Professor Chanelle analyzed and marveled coolly, looking at her attacker with starry eyes like a total weirdo.
Anyway, first things first, let’s calm down our angry master.
After picking up Lucy like before, I spoke to Professor Chanelle.
“As I said, think it over and come back later. And I warn you, if you bother us again, I’ll erase the magic school.”
With one hand, I drew my sword and slashed upward lightly.
The sword energy struck the ceiling.
It cleanly disappeared, leaving a gaping hole to the sky, making Professor Chanelle shriek like a bird and collapse on the spot.
“Checked that there’s nobody above, so don’t worry.”
Turning around, as we left the main building, we saw shocked students and faculty gathering around the now missing upper part of the building.
Some tried talking to us, but ignoring them all, just as we were leaving quietly, Lucy asked:
“Was what Adam just did magic?”
“No, mine was swordsmanship…or rather, just swinging a sword.”
“How can swinging a sword destroy a building?”
“How?”
Hard to explain.
“Because I’m SSR tier?”
“Oh.”
Though it was an unsatisfying explanation, thankfully she seemed to accept it.
“Anyway, Lucy. Don’t go showing murderous intent randomly.”
“What’s murderous intent?”
“The desire to kill someone.”
Of course, I’m no saint myself to lecture Lucy.
But showing such intentions carelessly always leads to problems eventually.
“I can handle issues since I’m strong, but you’re not like that, right?”
“As long as Adam is always by my side, I’ll be fine, right?”
“It’s when I’m not there that’s the problem.”
To clarify, “when I’m not there” refers hypothetically to possible situations.
But the moment I said that, Lucy started shaking violently.
“Huh? Why would you say that…? Why are you saying such things? Are you leaving me? If you’re leaving, why were you nice to me until now? Please don’t leave. I don’t want that. No way. Don’t leave…”
“It’s not that I’m leaving, it’s just an example…”
Realizing I’d triggered some switch inside Lucy, I hurried to explain properly, but it didn’t seem to get through.
“Why are you using such examples? Do you really want to leave…? I’ll be good, I’ll do anything you tell me. You can hit me. I’ll eat less if Adam wants. I’ll sleep quietly on the floor if it bothers him. And, and…”
Her emotional instability is getting out of control. This is dangerous.
“Please listen to me. I’m not leaving.”
“Please, please stay by my side. If Adam leaves, I’ll really die right there!”
“Lucy!”
Yelling made her trembling and words stop simultaneously.
Shocked that I’d raised my voice to her for the first time, Lucy blinked as I extended my pinky finger.
“Here, a promise. I swear right here I’ll never leave your side.”
“…?”
“This is how you do it.”
“…Ah.”
When I hooked pinkies, Lucy smiled gently as if nothing had happened.
Though I hate the word “never” fundamentally, believing nothing is absolute and oaths are meaningless.
That’s why, including my life before and as a gacha character, I’ve never made such vows – but I had no choice.
If I’d left Lucy as she was, she definitely would have broken.
“My first oath in life has been taken by you. Consider it an honor.”
Trying to cover my awkwardness with a joke, Lucy suddenly blushed.
“Adam’s…first…?”
“Technically true, but the nuance is weird, so let’s not say it like that.”
Anyway, magic school is on hold for now.
Even if she wanted to learn, sending a kid who can’t read yet, especially as a latecomer, would be tough. Plus health concerns mean it’s better to wait until she’s fully recovered.
What Lucy needs now is eating well, sleeping well, and experiencing as much as possible, so thinking that, I continued working as a knight trainer for a while, enjoying a leisurely daily life.
Nothing special happened during this peaceful, idle time until…
“Adam!”
Iris found me.
“Finally arrived…”
Exhausted from nonstop travel from the Heroides Empire, Iris barely made it to the capital of the Barfulus Kingdom.
Finding his residence wasn’t difficult. Adam was already famous in the capital, so few people didn’t know where he lived.
“Residence…?”
“Yes. The Adam you’re looking for is the <Wandering Hero>, right? He lives with his master in that house over there.”
The issue was Iris struggling to accept that Adam could be living so normally.
After bowing politely to a kind passerby, Iris walked straight toward Adam’s house without hesitation.
‘Something’s off. There’s no way Adam could be living so ordinarily.’
Firmly believing there must be some issue since he hadn’t come looking for her, Iris reached the house only to find, disappointingly, no signs of life inside.
‘Maybe he’s at the royal knights’ training grounds?’
Though logically, if summoned, he shouldn’t be able to take a position like a training instructor, Iris ignored the contradiction in her mind and turned around.
Or rather, tried to turn around.
“…”
Something bothered her.
The fact that Adam was living with someone else.
Until reaching the capital, Iris had planned to go straight to Adam, but strangely, she prioritized ‘confirmation’ over immediately finding him.
“It can’t be…”
Not knowing exactly what “it” referred to, Iris placed her hand on the locked door.
It turned easily, the lock breaking as the door opened.
At that moment, Iris was certain.
“Adam’s smell…!”
Reuniting with the scent she’d missed for a whole year made her body tingle, but the feeling didn’t last long.
Because it was mixed.
Mixed within Adam’s sweet smell was another, unwelcome scent.
Entering the living room, Iris sniffed around.
“A woman…?”
Identifying the source of the unwanted scent made Iris’ heart race.
She began inspecting the house for signs of cohabitation.
Opening closets.
Opening drawers.
There were men’s clothes and underwear presumed to be Adam’s.
And women’s clothes and underwear presumably belonging to whoever lived with him.
“It can’t be. It can’t be. It mustn’t be!”
Feeling increasingly anxious, Iris rushed upstairs.
Walking into the open bedroom, she saw the bed.
A large size big enough for two.
The only one.
Bed.
There.
“Can’t be? Can’t be? Can’t be?”
Staggering toward the bed, Iris bent down to smell it.
The mixture of Adam’s and the woman’s scents was stronger here than in the living room or kitchen. Immediately upon detecting it, Iris drew her sword.
The bed split in two.
Only the thinnest shred of sanity prevented it from disintegrating completely.
Or perhaps…
“Haa, haa, haa, haa…”
Her head spun. Her stomach churned. She thought she heard ringing in her ears. Her eyes stung. Her mouth went dry.
“Ah…so that’s how it is.”
Regaining some composure through several deep breaths, Iris accepted the reality before her.
“You tricked me, Adam.”
In her own way.
Iris raised her sword.
Such a despicable place shouldn’t exist, so she planned to reduce it to ashes before retrieving Adam.
But just before striking down, she changed her mind.
‘Hmm. If I destroy this place entirely, these memories will surely be permanently imprinted in Adam’s mind. Therefore…’
The tainted memories must be overwritten.
That was Iris’ conclusion.
‘I’ll transfer the rights and marks of ownership from the woman who summoned Adam, then kill her. Then I’ll live here with Adam.’
She’d return to the empire when she judged the memories sufficiently overwritten. Or maybe she wouldn’t return at all.
As long as she could be with him, anywhere would be fine.
“Yeah, perfect plan!”
Satisfied with her thoughts, Iris exited the house and dashed off like the wind.
Having learned the location of the royal knights’ training ground while asking about Adam in the capital, finding it was easy.
And soon she discovered.
Adam coming out of the training ground.
And beside him, clearly the evil woman deceiving Adam.
“Adam!”
“Hey, Iris?”
Overjoyed by their reunion, Iris swung her sword at Lucy.
