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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Demon Domain Arc

Chapter 276: Same as the Past

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“Phew. But seriously, the enemy is still weak.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. With our strength, it’s only natural to find the enemies around here weak. Besides, it seems they haven’t noticed our movements yet, so this is probably how it is at the start.”

“Yeah. Just like El said. Olga should just stay quiet and follow along.”

“Sigh. As usual, Fiera is all over Eir.”

“Because I love him, of course!”

“Heh. Is that so?”

Saying this, Olga began to dispose of the corpses of the goblins and kobolds we had defeated with the others, while I pulled out a map to check the route to our next destination.

“El, where are we headed next?”

“Next is the Holy Kingdom.”

“Got it.”

A few months ago, we started our last journey, going from country to country and town to town while hunting monsters, gradually collecting what we needed as we made our way to our ultimate goal.

“It’s okay. We still have time. We need to prepare perfectly before then.”

“Yeah. With El around, there’s no problem. It’s been fine so far, so let’s be confident this time too.”

“Ah, thanks, Fiera.”

“Yeah. I’m going to look around a bit.”

“Understood. Be careful.”

“Mm.”

As Fiera said this and took a few comrades with her into the forest, I turned my gaze back to the map in my hand and clenched it tightly.

“It’s fine. This time, for sure it’ll be okay.”

I kept repeating that as if trying to convince myself, looking in the direction of our final destination.

◇◇◇

The season changed from the autumn when the dungeon practice was held, and we welcomed winter, feeling the cold air outside.

“It’s cold…”

“Are you okay, Sonia?”

“I might not make it. It’s so cold I might freeze to death!”

The capital of the Ruzenia Empire, where the Suzette Imperial Academy is located, doesn’t get much snow even in winter compared to the Valentine Duchy up north.

Therefore, though the capital is warmer than there, I still didn’t feel too cold, but for Sonia, who came from the Magic Kingdom on the west side, even the capital’s cold seemed quite harsh, and lately, she had been constantly complaining about the cold during our academy life.

“If it’s that cold, why don’t you warm yourself up with magic?”

“Ugh. But considering the future, it’s better to get used to the cold a little bit, right? After all, Lewis’s territory is north.”

“Yeah. Sonia, that’s a good mindset. Let’s work hard together.”

“True. But once I get used to the cold over there, most regions won’t feel that cold anymore. The first time I went there, I thought I was going to die, but thanks to that, this place doesn’t seem that cold. So, maybe it’s also a good idea to visit soon.”

“That sounds right. If I think about the future, it might be a good idea to visit the winter in the Valentine Duchy at least once.”

The four of them said this and all turned to look at me at once, but I pretended not to notice their gaze and instead directed my eyes toward the academy.

They started making small hints about the future, like now, after the discussion with Mejina.

I didn’t know what Mejina had told them, but they began to slowly close the gap between us, carefully keeping just the right distance to avoid triggering my anger.

I could threaten or push them away if their actions started to bother me, but since they seemed serious this time, and didn’t repeatedly bring up the same topic, I found it tedious but dealt with them as usual.

“Well, we can discuss the details later. By the way, the atmosphere at the academy lately is really bad.”

“Yeah. The gazes are annoying. I’d rather gouge out their eyes.”

“Not allowed, Fiera. That would become a big problem.”

“True. If that happens, I’d get expelled and couldn’t be with Lewis-sama anymore!”

“That’s a no-go.”

“Then, we’ll have to endure it.”

The unpleasant gazes that Fiera and the others felt were the looks from other students, staring at us as if we were some sort of abnormality, mainly directed at me, and naturally, since Fiera and the others were always near me, they were inevitably exposed to those stares as well.

“Seriously, I never thought the atmosphere at the academy would change this much in just a few months.”

“The class is the same. Honestly, being in that class right now is really uncomfortable.”

“It was somewhat enjoyable at first, though.”

“It’s all that guy’s fault. I want him to return to the soil.”

As Fiera and the others mentioned, the atmosphere in Class S had become horrible since a few months ago.

The major reason for that was Shudo transferring into Class S.

Currently, our class had split into two groups, one that ignored and viewed Shudo as an enemy and the other that honored him as the Hero and gathered around him.

Of course, Fiera and her friends were on the enemy side, while the others were always flocking around Shudo, including Sylphia, who had been practicing in the dungeon with Fiera and her friends.

“Sylphia. What a shame.”

“I thought I could get along with her, but that’s unfortunate.”

Fiera, who was paired with Sylphia, seemed quite shocked that Sylphia went to Shudo’s side, and even Fiera had her ears drooped at the beginning.

By the way, I was neither in the group opposing Shudo nor the one revering him; I was just ignoring him. But it seemed Shudo wanted my attention for some reason, always glaring at me with hostility.

As a result of his constant actions, it seemed I had become regarded as the enemy who opposes the Hero, and I ended up in this situation despite doing nothing.

“Sephiria, are you okay?”

“If I had to be around that guy all the time, I think I’d go crazy.”

“Me too. I’ll ask Dōna to hang him as high as possible in the academy.”

“I’ll kill him.”

“Why do you always have such high murderous intent in your last statement?!”

While Shuvina said some rather extreme things, Fiera always expressed a high level of animosity towards Shudo, glaring at him even during class.

“Well, Sephiria should be fine. She seems freer than expected; she occasionally hides and waves at him.”

Since Shudo joined Class S, Sephiria had been sticking close to him as directed by the Holy Kingdom, but due to her past memories, she handled him well, finding opportunities to wave or smile at him.

Moreover, it seemed she had her own secrets, as despite being closest to him, she showed no sign of being influenced by Shudo’s magic power.

“It looks like we’ve arrived while chatting.”

“Depressing.”

While we were discussing various topics, we found ourselves in front of the door of Class S, and Iris and Fiera showed the gloomy expressions that had recently become common.

“There’s no point in worrying about the looks around us. If anything happens, we can retaliate then.”

“Right. I’ll make sure to gather evidence that they were the first to instigate before retaliating.”

“Sonia’s right. Others are just others, no matter how far they go. In the end, it’s about what we think and what we want to do.”

“Okay.”

I was used to this atmosphere because of past experiences, but for Iris and the others, who were new to this, it seemed that being stared at with hostility by those they were somewhat close to made them feel uneasy.

“Well then. We can’t stay here forever, let’s head in quickly.”

I said this and opened the door to enter. As I did so, the other students who were already there turned to look at us all at once.

“Haha. The coordination is unreal.”

“Lewis Valentine.”

In a movement as coordinated as a knight’s order, I couldn’t help but smirk at their over-the-top synchronization while genuinely admiring it when a youth who had now become a familiar sight stepped in front of me, calling me by my full name.

“You really are stupid. Didn’t I tell you not to call me by my name casually? Is that head of yours for decoration? Or is the condition to become a Hero to throw away your memory?”

“Wha?! It doesn’t matter! At the academy, we’re equal! It doesn’t matter how I call you!”

“No, I already explained the equality thing before. Sigh. Whatever, I feel a headache coming on. So? What’s this about now?”

“I, Shudo, ranked 11th in our year, challenge Lewis Valentine, ranked 10th, to a rank battle!”

“Huh?”

The moment I heard those words, despite just arriving, I was already filled with the overwhelming desire to return to my room.

 

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