I Was Confessed to by the Golden Sun

19 – Unfair Deal

A secret spot where the scheming mages gathered, hidden deep within the academy’s winding paths where few people ventured.

Though it was a secret place, it wasn’t blatantly visible; they had dug out their own space beneath a flowerbed on the open grounds and magically concealed the eNT*Rance.

Of course, one could forcefully open the eNT*Rance with a blast, so it wasn’t a significant problem.

The real problem that I faced now was…

“Why do you keep following me? I have things to do,” I said.

“hehehe, I told you. You’re mine for the day,” Lucia replied, trailing behind me persistently.

I hadn’t meant to go to Lucia that day to collect the money. I had thought of saving a few pennies, but it turned out to be quite a hassle.

“I told you, Saint is involved in something very dangerous. Turn back now, okay?”

I hadn’t mentioned that we were headed to the mages’ stronghold, but just the fact that Saint was involved in something while skipping the eNT*Rance ceremony indicated the scale and danger of the situation.

I justified it by mentioning the Rosary, a high-ranking paladin’s weapon that had been stolen by the Crown Prince.

Most of it was true, so I thought she would understand and leave.

“I’m good at fighting too. If I join in, won’t the dangerous situation end faster?” I suggested.

However, Lucia was much more stubborn than I had anticipated.

No matter how many times I told her it was dangerous and she should turn back, she insisted that if she helped, things would end more quickly. With eyes ablaze, she stared at me and added, “The guy who agreed to be mine isn’t keeping his promise properly. I should help him finish this strange task quickly, right?”

“..That statement seems to have room for misunderstanding.”

Upon hearing that, Lucia tightened her grip on me as if waiting for such a response, suffocating me with her embrace.

“Even so, isn’t it mine?”

“I belong to no one, Lucia.”

“Ugh… how boring.”

“Then, Lucia, with a disappointed look, slowly removed her hand from her waist, as if to say she was truly sorry. She quickly darted forward, then turned back to me and winked.

“My heart is already yours without receiving any money, so why can’t you buy it for just one day with 20,000 gold?” Lucia, who had been contemplating this, suddenly scrunched her face as if it was too strange. “I mean, isn’t this an excessive unfair trade? Should I report you as a criminal to the Empire?”

“You’ll probably be acquitted without charges. It was Lucia who forced me to hand over the money,” he said.

Lucia looked back at us with a skeptical expression, muttering something senseless, and Grayson, who had been silently following us, appeared. He smiled at us while mumbling, as if he felt some kind of affection.

This world is doomed. I can’t believe I’m feeling this warmth for someone who’s stalking Heidi.

“Oh, so when will you come over to me…”

Lucia’s constant chatter was silenced by my hand as we were now just a few meters away from the academy’s back garden.

“Hmm.”

At the same time, something soft and moist brushed against my hand that covered Lucia’s mouth.

“What… what are you doing?”

I quickly removed my hand from Lucia’s mouth, and she, with her tongue poking out, playfully laughed and extended her tongue towards me.

“Geez, a little brat.”

Unbelievable, she licks my hand just because I used it to cover her mouth. Does this person have no dignity as a human being?

“Please don’t do such things in the future; it’s really surprising.”

Then, Lucia quickly nodded and looked at me with sparkling eyes. And then, with those eyes shining brightly, she smiled as if she would devour me and softly muttered something that was almost inaudible.

“…You’re cute.”

For a moment, I felt a shiver run down my spine. Even though I knew it was all an act, the way she coNT*Rolled even the sound of her whisper to make sure I heard it, made me feel an eerie possessiveness and obsession.

– Thud! Thud!

“…This is insane.”

What’s even more annoying is that I can hear such clingy words and feel my heart racing.

To put it more simply, it’s safe to say that I was excited.

I wanted to pin down the part of me that listened to these words from such a person and felt excitement.

It seems that Lucía wasn’t the only one who had given up on human dignity.

“Stop overthinking and focus, it’s really dangerous from now on.”

I lightly interrupted Lucia, who was trying to say something in that state.

With that, I hurriedly walked toward the garden where the Mongmas’ headquarters was located, trying to calm my trembling heart as much as possible.

“Hey.”

It was me who was about to step on the large boulder and break the eNT*Rance to the Mongmas’ headquarters.

However, such preparations were in vain because the garden’s floor was already pierced as if inviting us in.

“Why is there a hole in the garden? Are we supposed to go this way?”

Lucía muttered while pointing to the hole.

No, we are supposed to go in here, but why is this place in ruins?

“…Something’s strange.”

Originally, this place should have been a normal flower bed with some grass slightly overgrown, hidden by magic.

But now, it seemed as if someone had forcibly pushed their way in.

In that hole, a faint bloody scent was even seeping out.

“Lucía, can’t you stay outside?”

For some reason, I held Lucía’s arm and said with a terribly ominous feeling.

It was not a situation to be worried about the reputation of the Sun God, but it felt as if something really dangerous was happening inside.

“You’re someone who should be punished in some way, but not like this.”

“What, are you worried about me now?”

Lucía laughed softly and, in the blink of an eye, brought the club down on my head.

“Ouch.”

With that, she lightly smacked my head.

“Are you not watching me fight right now? I bet I can fight better than Heidi.”

“Still, I can’t help but worry…”

Ah, damn it.

In an instant, the thoughts swirling in my head collided with a question from Lucia, leading to an unusual response.

I gazed at the frozen Lucia and hastily added a word.

“If you die here, won’t you have to pay for stealing Heidi’s man?”

Phew, by now, Lucia must be used to that sort of thing.

“hehehe, hehehehe…”

…It seems not. Damn it.

Lucia either didn’t hear my words or chose to ignore them, as she continued to giggle with her mouth wide open.

Saying something that could be misunderstood by anyone else, especially to Lucia, was a mistake.

Lately, I’ve found myself wanting to unleash my past self more often.

“Looks good.”

Grayson, who had approached without my notice, nodded with a smile.

I really feel like crying now.

As I contemplated whether to ignore them and enter the eNT*Rance, a moment later…

“Kyaah!”

A scream echoed from outside the hole. It was faint, perhaps due to the distance, but the fear in that loud cry was unmistakable.

“This is insane.”

If that scream came from the Saint, it was a significant danger. If the Saint was screaming like that, his overwhelming sanctity he used to brag about must have long since run out.

“If the Saint dies here…”

If the Saint, who would play a crucial role in the upcoming episodes, dies, the plot will undoubtedly become entangled. Moreover, without the Saint’s sanctity to alleviate pain and prevent physical harm, his death was a foregone conclusion.

To prevent that, I had no time to engage with Lucia.

“Grayson, I’ll go inside first, please make sure Lucia doesn’t follow!”

With those words to Grayson, I quickly pushed my body into the hole.

Inside, the scent of blood had grown even stronger, to the point where it was incomparable to the outside.

A disgusting odor that induced revulsion emanated from the body, pricking my nose relentlessly.

“Thank goodness I have this at least.”

To avoid being affected by the repugnant scent, I covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief and popped a lemon candy into my mouth. It felt like the candy was somewhat masking the scent.

I was grateful for the lemon candies from Kym Taeyang for the first time.

“You… You… that playboy…?”

I heard an odd sound coming from beneath me as I rushed over.

Fate, who was in a terrible state, seemed to be struggling to breathe.

I felt a little uncomfortable being referred to as a playboy, but now was not the time to worry about that.

“Please, please save me. It’s a monster…”

The guy, as soon as he saw me, was writhing as if he had just been rescued from a shipwreck, begging for help.

However, his body was already so badly mangled that it was hard to recognize, and with blood flowing from his body, it seemed impossible for him to survive.

My rudimentary first aid kit was not enough to treat him.

“What happened?”

I asked, and Fate, who seemed to have resigned to the fact that he was going to die, shed a single tear.

It seemed like he realized that there was no way for me to save him, which he had thought was his last hope.

So Fate soon resigned himself to his fate and opened his mouth to share the information he had gathered.

“We heard that a saint was here, and we spread magic to find him, but…”

But from this point on, a chilling feeling began to creep in.

The familiar chill that I felt every time the story didn’t go as expected.

“Could it be that the saint noticed and came here?”

I quietly asked, hoping it wouldn’t be the result I had in mind.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

In the end, the ominous speculation became reality and kicked me in the gut.

I desperately changed the question to Fate, putting my last remaining hope on the line.

“Is the entire Holy Kingdom trying to exterminate you? Looking at how beaten up you are, it can’t be just the saint, right?”

I clasped my hands together, hoping that Fate’s answer would align with my expectations.

If the saint was single-handedly defeating the monsters like this, it would undoubtedly complicate the situation.

Even if the timing was off, I would have preferred it if the Holy Kingdom’s support troops had been here with the saint to face the monsters.

“The saint did it on his own.”

“This is a disaster.”

Naturally, the answer that came out of her mouth extinguished the little hope I had left.

A few years ago, the moment when the build-up that had accelerated the saint’s growth for the best possible outcome turned into the worst possible outcome.