NOVEL NEXT Chapter 159
The Administrative Hall where the third investigation committee for the Mystic Island selection test is being held.
Edwin Gwynn walked through the hallway with a serious expression.
As the leader of this selection party, he had to cooperate with the investigation committee as a representative.
First of all, the good news… Lev has returned.
He didn’t need anyone to tell him that.
The piercing scar he saw at the Divine Grand Park was definitely his.
‘That’s amazing… Lev…’
It was certainly him who protected the Saint from the remnants of Crow Pay.
But ironically, this incident was also acknowledged as Edwin’s merit.
‘Lev, do I even deserve to be rank S…?’
With the defeat of the Great Demon on Mystic Island and the protection of the Saint, Edwin had achieved the long-desired Claris Highest Rank.
‘I guess I… don’t have the capacity like you, Lev…’
Edwin thought that Lev was more qualified to catch the Demon King than he was.
The reason was simple.
Even after being killed by his ally Aria, Lev managed to embrace everything and restore it to its original state without a care.
Just how big of a picture was he painting?
‘But me…’
In contrast, he hadn’t protected a single soul.
Melissa and Aveline.
Just because they were part of Caeran’s party related to the Demon Race, they were under suspicion from Claris Special Investigators.
If not for Edwin’s testimony, their fate wouldn’t be bright.
Thus, he wanted to appear as cool as Lev and embrace everything…
Bam, bam!
“Caeran…”
“Lord Caeran!!”
“Y-You idiot! Where have you been…! No contact at all…!”
“N-No! It’s just… something went wrong during the raid training! I just… just…”
Huff, huff…
“…I feel really pathetic.”
He couldn’t shake the image of their choice of Caeran from his head.
And then, in that moment.
“Edwin…”
“Lord Edwin…!”
From afar, two women who had engulfed Edwin’s mind came closer to him.
*
Sellafi Black House.
Aria and Yeriel were preparing dinner for the newly arrived dormitory students.
“Hehe~ Lev, Leeev~.”
A cute voice. Light brown twin tails.
Clears throat! “I’m also going to be living here!”
The girl humming Lev’s name was Lily Forget, who had officially entered the Black House this time.
She sat at the table, opposite a white-skinned Elf, Selena Windforce, who was sitting with her eyes closed.
“When will Lev come? Lily has something to show…”
“…”
“Since he has afternoon classes today, he’ll probably come back a bit later than yesterday…”
“Got it! Ehehe!”
While Lily’s joy soared with Lev’s return, a subtle tension flowed among the other women for some reason.
Clatter, clatter…
Yeriel, who had been hoping for lively days at the Black House, was happy about Lily and Selena moving in, but on the flip side, she was sad that her time to chat with Lev would be significantly reduced.
Especially when Lily would run to him as soon as he arrived.
“Whoa! It’s Lev!!”
“Hey.”
“Did Lily succeed in summoning a Familiar today?”
“Oh, that’s amazing.”
Clears throat!
Lily would run to him and wouldn’t let him go.
So even though Lev was back, she couldn’t even exchange a word with him…
‘I really am greedy…’
At first, she thought just having Lev back was enough, but now that he was at the Black House, she felt so conscious.
Moreover, being in a situation where she could only watch as he hung out with Lily was frustrating.
“Hehehe~”
Aria cautiously asked the humming Lily.
“…Are you going to sleep in Lev’s room again today?”
“Of course! Lily is good friends with Lev~.”
“…”
The two girls’ expressions turned gloomy, yet Lily excitedly answered.
Yeriel exchanged glances with Aria and subtly said, “Lily. According to the dormitory rules, sleeping in someone else’s room is against the rules.”
“Huh?”
Of course, considering Lily’s actions on Lev’s first night back, as a dormitory supervisor, she could overlook it for a day or two.
But already a week had passed.
Even Lev, to avoid misunderstandings, kept his door wide open when Lily was in his room and even let her sleep on his bed while he slept on the floor, so it had to be uncomfortable for him.
With the second semester being particularly busy, it worried Yeriel that Lev couldn’t even rest comfortably when he returned to the dormitory.
In the end, she felt she had to say something and clearly address the issue.
“Hmmm… But Lev seemed okay…?”
As Lily tilted her head with her finger raised, a short sigh escaped.
“Lily, could you lessen it a bit?”
Bing!
It was none other than Selena, the embodiment of ‘saying it like it is.’
“Sorry, but Lev looking okay is just your opinion, right? He’s not your guardian.”
“…But Lev said he enjoys being with me!”
“He might have said that. He is sweet and naive after all.”
“What? Are you calling Lev naive?”
“Just very considerate. Oh, maybe it’s hard for little and cute Lily to understand?”
“L- Lily is cute, but…! I know! Lily understands that much!”
Just as they had formed a party for the selection test, Lily and Selena weren’t complete strangers.
However, before Caeran Hiss and Lev Denec showed up, Lily had been the one showing one-sided interest in Selena.
“Hey, both of you shouldn’t argue in the Black House…!”
“That’s right. Both of you calm down…!”
Selena slightly smiled as she saw the fuming Lily.
“Really? Lily knew? That Lev is kind and considerate.”
“Yeah! I know!”
“Well then, you can just quietly follow the Dormitory Supervisor’s words, for Lev’s sake.”
“Huh? T-That’s…?”
“Oh my! Seems like you don’t know much about Lev, do you? You’re still just a kid.”
“A kid…?”
Lily actually had a small inkling of it.
That because of her, Lev was lying on the floor every morning and appeared a bit tired.
However, until Lev spoke up directly, she probably wanted to act spoiled.
Thinking this way, an uncomfortable feeling surged.
‘M- Mia, Lev…?’
She felt like crying.
But she didn’t want to admit it so easily.
Kid.
She couldn’t overlook that word.
“Elder!”
“What…?!”
“Selena… must be jealous of Lily.”
Gasp!
“I’m sorry, Lily did something wrong. But Selena is definitely more foolish than Lily.”
“…Huh?”
Seeing Selena look dumbfounded, Lily started to speak clearly.
“Lily knows. Selena has always been looking at Lev next to Lily, right?”
“…”
“Lily will honestly say she likes Lev, okay?”
“Now…”
“But Selena, being older than Lily, still can’t say she likes him in front of others, can she?”
“…!!”
A blush began to rise on Selena’s pale face.
“Waiting around like a puppy, hoping Lev will understand your feelings.”
“…!”
This factual assault hit not only Selena but also left Aria and Yeriel speechless, gaping.
“So, Lily is a perfect match for Lev. He belongs to Lily.”
Gasp!
With that, the atmosphere inside the Black House began to grow tense thanks to cute Lily’s bombshell statement.
*
Ding-dong.
The alert rang that the Circulation Train was about to arrive at the platform.
In response, Yellody’s mouth opened.
“I don’t know….”
Ding-dong…
The location of the Demon King.
It seems it wouldn’t be easy to pinpoint it.
“Really?”
When I asked again,
“Yeah. Would I lie to my junior?”
“That’s true…”
Yellody wore an unusually serious expression. She continued speaking, looking at the Circulation Train tracks.
“I chose Caeran for that reason too.”
“Why?”
“I thought he could help find out where the Demon King is hiding.”
Indeed, I didn’t doubt her statement.
In the [Reincarnated Hero], the Demon King appeared after the Great Demon was defeated.
In the worst case, he might not show up if certain conditions were not met.
Of course, my personal goal was…
—————————————————
[Mission Object]
1 – Graduate from Claris Academy without being held back or expelled.
2 – Prevent the Caeran ending. (Achieved)
—————————————————
Failure: The world line might collapse, and you might be trapped in the flow of eternal time.
—————————————————
With only graduation from Claris Academy remaining, and the game’s end button activated, it felt like it was over…
“Is Lev a nice person?”
“Then tell me you like me.”
Numerous heroines were already entangled.
How could I leave this behind?
At the very least, it was a priority to create a world where they could be safe.
‘I need to find evidence pointing to the author.’
I had to believe that the traces of the one who sent me here remained.
Ugh…
As the Circulation Train slowed down and came to a stop, Yellody stood up from her seat.
“Well, I’ll try to figure things out as well. So don’t think of betraying me and work hard, junior.”
“Sure.”
With that, she left me behind.
Before I knew it, the sun was setting.
‘I should head back to the Black House soon…’
Whoosh…
Gasp!
At that moment, the wind swirling in the empty platform refreshed my mind.
Having been possessed here… all the events until now flashed rapidly before my eyes.
Battles against Demons, Demon Creatures, Monsters, and Humans.
Thought I liked the essence while I shunned the non-essence…
All the people I had met so far.
“…”
And then, I suddenly seemed to have a revelation.
“I found it. The Demon King.”