Academy’s Dark Perspective - Chapter 342



Only Krnovel

Academy Dark Curtain Viewpoint Episode 342

“Miss Serena.”

[……no.]

“I made some soup. I think it will be easy to eat. You should eat something-.”

[I said I don’t like it!]

An old voice is heard from beyond the firmly closed door.

Then, soon, a sobbing sound came out.

The android butler, who had been quietly holding a tray in front of him, opened the door quietly as programmed and went in.

A ghostly figure sat on a bed in a corner of a spacious, clean room. Hugging her knees and shedding tears, it was none other than Serena Beresford, her new mistress.

“Why… … are you coming in without permission… … !”

“Miss Serena, you should eat.”

“Be quiet… … You don’t know my heart… … .”

Serena bowed her head again and sobbed.

The cause of her bright and lively transformation was, of course, the dragon invasion. The flames fired by the giant monster unfortunately engulfed the Beresford family mansion, and although Serena survived, she suffered terrible burns all over her body and had to be treated in the hospital for a long time.

Of course, she had now fully recovered and regained her former beauty, but there were still embers burning inside her heart, burning here and there.

It is said that the most horrible pain a human can experience is the sensation of being burned. Having experienced the terrifying fire shot by the dragon all over her body, it is not surprising that she ended up in this state.

To make matters worse, she had to say goodbye to many of her acquaintances.

Several of her close friends from the university she attended, as well as her close relatives, lost their lives.

And one of the acquaintances she had to sadly part ways with was none other than the former android butler of this mansion.

The fireball that had injured Serena had obliterated the android’s sturdy plastic body, leaving behind not a single ash particle as if it were a joke.

Strictly speaking, he was not a ‘person’ but a ‘property’, but it seems that this was not something that Serena could treat so lightly.

From that day on, Serena closed her heart. Her parents, worried about her, brought her an android butler of the same model, but that did not heal her wounds.

The human mind is complex and subtle, so it does not give equal value to things just because they have the same appearance and voice.

“Miss Serena… … .”

“……get out.”

“… … .”

“You are fake.”

Serena strongly rejected the presence of a new butler. She buried her face in her knees again and burst into tears.

It would have been nice if at least the data of the previous butler had remained, but as I said, he had been ‘burned’, so it was an impossible wish.

“… … .”

Unfortunately, his AI core did not have the right behavioral programming to deal with this situation. The butler simply held the tray in both hands and waited for Serena to calm down.

And did it work?

Serena muttered quietly to herself.

“You all are too much… … .”

“… … .”

“When I came to, there was no one around me… … My house was completely gone, my friends were gone… … My body was completely tattered… … And, and… … !”

Serena’s voice became increasingly rambling and sobbing, making it difficult to understand.

“Why… … doesn’t ‘that person’ come to me? Doesn’t he worry about me at all?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Aaron! Aaron Stingray!”

Serena turned her head sharply and shouted.

“Wow, I knew from the beginning that you liked me one-sidedly! But, no matter what! How could you not come see me even once!? As a human, at least once… … .”

How much I cared for him.

How much effort and time did I invest, overcoming all the shame and embarrassment, just to see his smile once?

Because she was the one who put in more effort and sincerity than anyone else, she felt betrayed by Aaron who didn’t show any sign of mercy even in this situation.

Serena would normally have brushed off Aaron’s harshness without a fight, but this time she couldn’t. It was also proof that she had become weak.

“Dude, I’m sure he’s forgotten about me by now and is thinking about Irina and the other girls… … He’s the kind of person who doesn’t know how to care about anything other than work… … .”

“With all due respect, Miss Serena.”

The butler briefly interrupted Serena’s tearful complaint.

“If the ‘Aaron Stingray’ that Miss Serena is talking about is the chairman of the Stingray Foundation… … I understand that he has not been active externally at all since the last dragon attack.”

“……what?”

Serena turned her head slightly.

If he had animal ears, they would have perked up and moved around.

“What, what does that mean?”

“It is as I said. It is said that Aaron Stingray went into hiding in the Elysium mansion after defeating the dragon alone at the end. According to the article, he has refused all interviews with the press and is currently on indefinite leave, leaving all Foundation-related work to an acting agent… … .”

“What? Why, why are you doing that?”

“The article speculated that it was related to the ‘complete collapse of the Stingray Group.’ There was also a ‘health issue theory.’ The fight with the dragon was so intense that he suffered an injury that was not known to the outside world, and the president of the new Stingray Group, Kalia, hid the fact for the sake of the company’s interests-.”

“Your Majesty is sick!?”

“……Husband?”

Serena jumped to her feet.

“That, that’s what happened!? It wasn’t because he didn’t care about me, nor was it because he was just mean to me, but because he was sick enough to do that!?”

“Well, of course, it’s just a ‘flyer’ for now-.”

“I, a woman like me, was blaming my husband without even knowing it!?”

“… … Sir?”

Leaving the butler tilting his head, Serena ran into the living room in her pajamas.

The butler’s thought process came to a halt for a moment due to her sudden outing(?) after months of seclusion.

When he came to his senses again after being caught in a moment of lag, he heard a crashing sound coming from the kitchen.

When I ran over there later, the gas stove was on, and all kinds of dishes were scattered on the floor. And among them, Serena was pale and breathing heavily.

“Oh, Miss! Are you okay!?”

“Okay, it’s okay. It’s just that… … haa… … .”

Serena was breathing heavily.

“Uh, uh, turn off that light and go to the department store right now to buy an induction stove. I thought a gas stove would be okay, but it’s not… … .”

“Miss? Why is the induction suddenly… … .”

“Hey, be quiet! My husband is sick and can’t move. I have to do something about it!”

“… … Our groom?”

Isn’t Serena also unable to move because she’s sick? I heard she hasn’t been able to eat properly for the past week because she’s been sick.

Still, it was a very fortunate thing that Serena was starting to regain her energy. Although he couldn’t figure out what was going on, the butler decided to follow his master’s orders for now.

“Okay, I will go ahead and buy the induction product as you said. If there is a product or price range you want-.”

“You can figure that out! Oh, and when you get back, prepare some clothes for me to wear while I’m cooking, and some cosmetics! I don’t have much time, so hurry!”

“Oh, I understand.”

The butler, who was pushed out to buy new kitchen appliances, thought this.

His new master… …might be a bit of a strange person.

* * *

“haha…….”

The ground was stained with shattered pieces of flesh and pools of blood. No matter how much I looked around, all I saw were corpses, corpses… … only corpses.

In the middle of that land filled with nothing but death, Airi raised her head, breathing heavily.

As she looked up at the sky-

Cheeeeeeek-!

A large amount of steam belatedly burst out from her body. Her body, which had been heated by overload, began to cool down quickly.

“Phew… … .”

Then she opens the water bottle she brought with her and takes a sip of water to regain her senses. As soon as her body’s energy is replenished and the heat has cooled down, she starts running again with the map in the corner of her vision.

2pm, 31861 horses.

This was the number of [Mysteries] that she had dealt with alone when she set out to the battlefield alone before the sun rose this morning. Of course, this number included low-level races or races that were characterized by pushing forward with quantity rather than individual abilities, but 31,000 was a number that could not be looked down upon.

[Warning. Overload rate is increasing.]

“Alert lifted.”

Warning messages continued to block her vision, but she forced herself to quit and continued on to the next battle. She had been fighting for nearly ten hours with little rest, but she showed no signs of tiring.

She continued to fight, moving, fighting, and moving again. By 8 PM, she had single-handedly swept away a total of over 40,000 monsters and returned to the city.

Miyu greeted her with a very angry expression as she returned covered in dust and blood.

“Iri!!”

“… … .”

“Where the hell did you go!? Do you know how worried we were because we couldn’t contact you!? We were so anxious that we thought you might never come back… … Oh, and by the way… … You used ‘that module’, right!?”

“… … .”

Airi, who was exhausted beyond belief, did not answer and just closed her eyes. It meant that she did not want to hear any nagging.

Miyu became even angrier at that attitude, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

“… … I’ll fix it for now. It’s an item whose performance hasn’t been properly confirmed yet, and since the replacement rate suddenly increased, there might have been some unexpected problems.”

“There’s no problem. You’ll know when you fight.”

“Well, maintenance is still essential.”

“Okay, I got it. More importantly, what about the others?”

“I went out to look for Airi, but then went back to fight the [Mysteries]. I thought I’d be able to find Airi then.”

“I guess our paths diverged. It’s better this way.”

Iri took a deep breath.

He opened the bag he was carrying on his back and held it out in front of Miyu.

“… … This, this is?”

“It’s a byproduct of the [Mysteries]. I dismantled the hearts of the strongest ones I’ve ever fought. Extract their essence and create a Mystery Module.”

“Iri!”

Miyu couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed.

“Is it because Airi wants to be like Mr. Aaron!? I’ve said this before. Airi has such high module sensitivity that if you increase the replacement rate arbitrarily, there’s a much higher chance of side effects occurring… … .”

“Then what are we going to do?”

Airi asked quietly.

Miyu flinched at the sound of her voice. It was probably because she was tired and her tone was mixed with irritation.

“There’s no way to check our health every single day. Even if it’s a bit difficult, we have no choice but to do it.”

“… … .”

“And Miyu, I’m asking you because it’s you.”

“Me, because it’s me?”

“You can do it. You can raise my replacement rate and output level to a precarious level. Right? In fact, this ‘Sky Dragon’ material module that I’m wearing right now was made by calculating all of that. Right?”

“But Airi… … .”

“So this is a secret between you and me.”

Iri spoke with sincerity.

“I don’t want to drag the other members into this. I can do it. You and I can do it.”

“… … .”

“There are only five days left. If we don’t finish this within five days, the chairman will be completely cyborgized and become Stingray’s mechanical weapon. In other words, it means that we only have to suffer for five more days.”

“Hey, do you even know what you’re talking about right now?”

“Miyu. I tried the module you made today and it became clear to me. If I bring you materials every day after hunting and you make equipment and modules with them, we’ll be able to meet the deadline just in time. I can guarantee it.”

“… … .”

“It’s been five days, Miyu. Five days.”

Miyu didn’t answer Airi’s words, but just by looking at her expression, she could tell which way her heart was leaning. After a moment of conflict, Miyu answered with half-teary eyes.

“Hey, get some rest first.”

Then Miyu, who received the materials given by Airi, disappeared into the workshop. Since there was probably no time, even if she used those materials, it would only reach Lv. 3 to Lv. 4… … But right now, even that was necessary.

It was 4 a.m. the next day when Miyu finished completing the new modules.

Miyu explained to Airi how to use it and what to watch out for, but Airi just listened to it and immediately inserted the module into the back of her neck.

Swish.

She felt her original body disappearing and new parts taking their place, and she felt a new strength spreading through her body that was incomparable to anything she had ever felt before.

“Okay. Then I’ll go straight away.”

“Ah, the module application isn’t completely finished yet… …!”

“There is no time to wait.”

Airi packed her bags again and headed to the battlefield.

She has four days left.

‘Even if it costs me my life… … .’

I will definitely save you.