Please Do Not Abandon the Adopted Heroine

Chapter 24 – I Stole the Angel’s Vocabulary

“Like this, it happened, Cecilia.”

“Professor Freya, you seemed quite upset.”

“Well, Freya, because of memories from a past life, she’s hypnotizing herself into believing she’s a man.”

“Even those from another world have their own hardships.”

Cecilia, lying lengthwise on the sofa with her head resting on my lap, curiously buried her head in a peculiar manner.

It’s fine to lie down, but I wish she’d pay attention to the direction of her head or her position.

Fidgeting.

When she was young, she used to fondle my fox ears like this all the time. Seems like an old habit resurfaced without my knowledge. Before I knew it, I was fondling Cecilia’s soft, firm, warm fox ears. So soft, delightfully soft.

You’re in the wrong place to be so easily touched.

However, as Cecilia’s breath became rough, a sense of inexplicable guilt and unease crept in, prompting me to withdraw my hand slowly. Or more accurately, I tried.

Thunk!

Cecilia grabbed my wrist and wordlessly placed my hand back on her fox ears. … My wrist hurts. Red marks were left on my palm. Is she telling me to keep caressing quietly? I couldn’t see her expression, but for now, I decided not to resist.

Meanwhile, Lynn, holding a warm cup of milk tea at the table, lowered her head dejectedly and spoke heavily.

“… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come then… I thought I could at least be quiet.”

“No, Lynn. Even if it wasn’t you, it would’ve exploded sooner or later. The Professor I know, Fern… whatever his name is, is that kind of person.”

At that, Cecilia chuckled softly.

“Hmm, as someone who doesn’t know the teacher’s saintliness or even his name, you seem to know his personality well. About Professor Fernandez, right?”

Cecilia, that remark struck a chord in my heart.

Well… it is true, though.

“So, Professor, who is this little child…?”

“Who are you, Lin?”

“Huh?”

“Yeah?”

“………….”

“…Right. I never introduced myself…”

I didn’t, indeed. I completely forgot.

No, now that I think about it, it’s all because of you and Undine. If we hadn’t fought back then, I could have introduced myself.

“As you can see, I’m from the Baneer tribe. Due to some circumstances, I ended up staying at the school. I’m a distant relative of Freya.”

The Baneer tribe isn’t numerous. Even if you were to count all the Baneer tribe members worldwide, it probably wouldn’t surpass the total number of students in this school. Technically, since we’re distant relatives, it’s not an inaccurate statement.

“The kid’s name is Lin, and their younger sibling’s name is Lan, who’s a bit unwell, so Professor Eges is looking after them.”

“Seems like they came to our school to treat an illness.”

“Well, something like that. Professor Eges is a remarkable talent; they couldn’t be recruited externally, so they’re quite an asset.”

“…But because Lin is a rare member of the Baneer tribe, there was a misunderstanding that they’re the child of the relationship between the teacher and Professor Freya… a person named Professor Fernandez.”

As Cecilia murmured quietly and slowly, Lin trembled, saying, “Excuse me… I didn’t mean to be oblivious… to cause any misunderstandings…”

Why frighten a kid who hasn’t done anything wrong?

“That’s the thing. It’s becoming unbearable with that Fermetzi… overlapping with this festival or whatever. It’s already hard enough to secure the faculty evaluation scores. Being blatantly ignored despite having a decent conduct… Ugh! I just want to have fun at the festival, eat something delicious from the stalls!”

As I let out a deep sigh, Lin cautiously asked, “Um… but what kind of festival is it that’s happening this time?”

“Yeah, exactly. I’m not sure either. Teacher, do you happen to know?”

“Oh, um, wasn’t it just some festival or another that we can pass by without much attention?”

“Hello?”

“No. Nothing at all.”

I shrugged my shoulders and spoke.

“The Eunwol Festival is one of the designated imperial holidays in the empire that honors the goddess of the moon. Like any other holiday, it doesn’t hold any special meaning. It’s not even a national holiday, so there’s no need to pay much attention. Just think of it as one of the passing school festivals.”

“If the goddess hears, she might get offended…”

Lyn cautiously remarked.

“hahahaha, as expected of a Banir clan member serving the goddess. But don’t worry. I’ve blasphemed the goddess countless times, yet I haven’t been struck by divine punishment.”

The goddess of the moon…

Suddenly, unpleasant memories surfaced, and I furrowed my brows briefly.

“Oh, Lina. Do you have a bit of time now? I need to go see Freya.”

“Now? At this moment?”

As I got up, Cecilia, who had her face buried in her knees, slipped down from my lap. I couldn’t ignore her displeasure as she swayed her tail.

“It’ll be troublesome later if you leave her like this.”

***

I set out to find Freya, but I couldn’t figure out where she was. Her laboratory was already tightly closed.

The only thing we could rely on was Cecilia’s sense of smell.

“…It’s this way.”

“Wow… Impressive. Do you really know everything by smell?”

“Yes. Among foxkin, a keen sense of smell is a source of pride, and my nose is particularly sensitive among them.”

“I envy you! If you’re looking for someone, you can find them right away!”

Lyn spoke with a bright smile, and as she passed, Cecilia glanced at me and chuckled softly.

“… Yes, it’s quite convenient.”

“Cecilia? Your response seems oddly slow. You’re not using that keen sense of smell for something strange, are you?”

“No, I’m not using it for anything improper, sir.”

“Phew.”

“…………….Probably.”

… Huh? ‘Probably’? Did I hear that right? While I pride myself on having better hearing than a fox, there’s no way the kind Cecilia would do that. Something’s definitely off with my ears.

“By the way, can I really accompany you to where your sick sibling is?”

“Of course! We can stay here thanks to the school folks!”

“… Shedding fur, they said.”

“Huh? Fur?”

“… Never mind.”

Cecilia, with a brief response, loosened her stiff expression. Though she didn’t show it outwardly, I could sense that she had been keeping in mind the fact that I’m a fox-kind, as her tail swayed subtly, a detail I noticed belatedly.

Following Cecilia’s keen sense of smell, we arrived at the school infirmary where Lan was hospitalized.

Knocking on the door and opening it, we discovered Freya, who had been keeping watch beside Lan, completely unaware and fast asleep. She greeted us with a light chuckle, shaking hands.

“Oh, it’s you guys.”

“… Looks like you were less shocked than I expected.”

“Huh? Me? What happened?”

… She just wants to pretend it never happened. Well, if it’s extreme stress, maybe that’s for the better. I’ll respect that.

Lyn and Cecilia, who followed behind, approached Lan lying on the bed.

I quietly watched the sleeping Rin. Ssaeak, ssaeak… I had heard her regular breathing for several days now.

I asked Freya.

“… How are her eyes?”

“Professor Aegis plans to perform ocular regeneration surgery. Fortunately, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

Freya’s gaze wavered as she spoke, perhaps hesitating to reveal something.

Fortunately, Cecilia, who was observant, engaged Rin in conversation, diverting attention.

Freya whispered cautiously to me.

“It doesn’t seem like her eyes were forcibly removed, but there are signs that the procedure was done.”

“The procedure… It must be the work of the Vanyir tribe.”

“… Without eyes, the power of allure might diminish slightly. They believe that eyes contain the curse of the goddess of deceit. They removed her eyes to make her wear the Brisingamen.”

“Since you, Freya, a former Brisingamen carrier, went to the Vanyir tribe, were they in a hurry to ‘create’ a successor? Those Vanyir folks are obsessed with money. Tsk!”

“… I brought her to the Brisingamen knowing that, but… ahahahaha… I didn’t think they could create a new Brisingamen so quickly. It’s my fault…”

There was no comforting word I could offer Freya, who was blaming herself with a grimace.

Seeing her distorted face also did little to ease my heart.

Trying to change the subject, I suddenly noticed a small note on the table.

“Hmm? Isn’t this… a language from another world?”

“Ah… yes. It’s English.”

She laughed lightly and picked up the notebook.

“It’s comforting to memorize English words when your mind is troubled.”

“Words, huh.”

Reincarnation, transmigration, or transfer, regardless of the method, the inhabitants of this world have their own unique experiences.

It may seem natural that the knowledge and culture of this diverse world are being disseminated here.

Knowledge branches out in various ways. The products of this world’s advancement in scholarship, not magic, occasionally turn empires upside down. When a cooling magic tool was first restored, a related religion even sprung up.

Well, that’s a special case. Generally, unless experts in each field are present, technological aspects are merely “restored” to a level of being combined with magic, more like “there’s this kind of item in this world~”, and that’s about it.

However, ‘language’ was different in this case.

In most cases, those who were not illiterate had enough knowledge to leave a mark. This became a common subject of study for many linguists. The most representative of these is ‘English’, which is treated as the common language of this world.

“You said it’s not the language used in the country you lived in, right?”

“Yeah, it’s treated as the world’s common language, so it’s taught for about 10 years in elementary, middle, and high school.”

“10 years. That’s a long time to learn. Can I take a look at it?”

“Oh, sure.”

“…Haa, Undine used to carry this around because of some strange fad. It was a waterjet or something, and she even used it with the original magic name she created. She was so thrilled for a while, asking how cool it was…”

I carefully examined the dictionary.

“Let’s see… the translations are also written together. ‘Brave’, ‘moon’, ‘justice’, ‘fertile’, ‘restrain’, ‘light’, ‘cultivate’, ‘practice’, ‘night’, ‘pursuer’…? What is this? You’ve memorized such basic words despite studying for 10 years?”

“…I’m sorry, it’s at a basic level.”

“No need to apologize.”

“…………”

“Well then, let me try one problem. Say ‘I am Professor Freya, teaching the culture of this world at the academy’ in this language.”

Upon hearing this, Freya grimaced and shook her head.

“What?! I don’t want to!”

Are you saying you can’t do it?”

“No way!”

The raised voice drew the attention of Cecilia and Lynn.

A subtle silence settled in. She stiffened in place. Perhaps it was the preservation of her dignity as Professor Freya, who was supposed to teach the culture of this world, that made her feel uncomfortable.

Flustered, Freya cast her eyes down, but instead of feeling embarrassed, she seemed to ignite with pride, trembling her lips and rolling her tongue.

“I… I… am…”

“Oh.”

“Uh… profe… sor… he…”

“Well done.”

“………..”

“………..”

“………..”

“………..”

“…………. can’t.”

“What?”

“I can’t. I can’t do it. Yeah, I’m bad at English, I got a level 5 in foreign language. So what? Are you going to send me to an academy or something?”

“… Level? Like a magic class? And you said you’ve been learning for 10 years?”

“I have, so what?”

“… These people from other worlds are really peculiar. Are you telling me that a foreigner has been sitting here designating a difficult language as the lingua franca, unable to form a single sentence after 10 years of learning?”

At that, Freya covered her face with both hands, her ears turning red as she half sobbed.

“… Stop it. I was foolish. There’s nothing wrong with my English. I just didn’t study. Please don’t do this… it’s embarrassing…”

“hahahaha, even if I study for an hour, I’ll do better than you.”

As I jokingly spoke, Lynn, who was nearby, started to glance nervously.

Freya’s face was oddly frozen. Is this not right…?

“……. That. Give it here.”

As she tried to retrieve the notebook from my hand, I had to hold the notebook hand up high.

“Hurry…! Come…! Give! It back!”

“Hey, watch out, you’re gonna fall.”

“I’m really getting mad! Ugh! Oops!”

“Oh! Unni, Oppas! Be careful…!”

For the record, the one who tripped certainly wasn’t me.

Freya, despite being a troublemaker in various ways, especially in her behavior, might have some issues due to memories from a past life as a man. I don’t know, but there’s a considerable problem with personal space.

Every time she lunged forward, the soft sensation of her hitting my backbone startled me, making me take a step back unconsciously. It would be an excuse after excuse to say I didn’t expect Freya to completely lose her balance.

“Teacher…?”

As we clumsily fell down together, Silvia’s ice-cold eyes, looking at us, were the first sight beyond our shoulders.

“Teacher…? Teacher…?”

“Silvia, ……. please help us up.”

“Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher?”

It’s not going to work. It’s already messed up.

Crash.

If it hadn’t been ‘someone’ entering just then by opening the door, the situation could have gotten even more complicated.

“Even though the patient is resting, what are you two doing here~? It’s great that you both emit regular energy, but it’s not appropriate to engage in intercourse here~♩”

No, let me correct that. It became much more complicated.

Hah, you shouldn’t joke around…