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The Academy was in complete chaos.

The reason? A Demon suddenly appeared during a practical exercise that was supposed to be safe because it was created by the Professor.

Even without that, the mere fact that a Demon appeared inside the Academy was a significant issue.

It was an unprecedented incident since the Academy’s establishment.

But I still didn’t understand why a Dullahan showed up this time.

“Hey. That monster isn’t from the original work, right? Do you know anything?”

I asked Arthur, who had entered before me.

Even if I didn’t like him, curiosity was still curiosity.

Arthur seemed to be just as clueless.

“…I don’t know.”

“What do you even know, then?”

If the protagonist doesn’t know, then who on earth does?

As I contemplated giving him a slap to the back of the head, he muttered something as if he had just remembered.

“Now that I think about it… they said that the Magical Tool inside the Dungeon had a lot of magical power, so it was able to summon a surprisingly strong Undead…”

He seemed to be talking to himself, but unfortunately, I heard all of it.

So it wasn’t just the original’s trash sword that summoned the Dullahan, but it was because of the Magical Tool inside containing so much magical power.

A lot of magical power in the Magical Tool.

The reason for that was because the Professors exerted more strength than usual.

And why did the Professors exert more strength than usual?

Because they were impressed by the hero who resolved the Marquis Territory incident.

So, this meant that the Marquis Territory incident had ultimately wound its way here.

Then who was the hero that solved the Marquis Territory incident?

‘Isn’t that me?’

So, the conclusion is…

“It’s my fault?”

Ugh.

It’s fine. As long as I don’t say anything, no one will know.

*

Right after we exited the Dungeon, we were called in by the Professor for some investigation or testimony.

Be that as it may, we just slipped out of the Academy.

We were only there to help, and besides, Arthur was the one who experienced the incident first.

While we were leaving, we did happen to meet Dean Lucia Marygold, but we only exchanged quick greetings before going our separate ways.

There was no time for trivial chit-chat about the Demon appearing at the Academy.

And that evening.

Before heading to the Inn, we stopped at a Restaurant for dinner.

We sat down at a large table, ordered tons of food, and drinks as well.

Thinking it might take a while for the food to come out, I wondered if we should start drinking first.

Just then, Luna tossed a question my way.

“Luke, I have something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“You mentioned earlier that there was a Demon inside the Dungeon, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you know that?”

“Oh! I’m curious about that too!”

Luna’s curiosity prompted Yui to join in.

“I told you before, I read it in a novel.”

“…You’re still pushing that setting?”

“If you’re not going to believe me even if I tell you, don’t ask. It’s tiring.”

Luna still seemed skeptical, but pure Yui looked as though she believed me wholeheartedly.

While Luna had already shifted her attention away from the topic, Yui sparkled her eyes as if she wanted to hear more.

“Are you curious, Yui?”

“Yes! I’m curious!”

If she’s curious, I guess I have to tell her.

We had nothing else to do until the food arrived anyway.

I began, like a grown-up reading a fairy tale to a child.

“First, Yui, you die.”

“…Excuse me?”

*

From the side, Luna thought Luke was spouting nonsense again. He often said things that were hard to understand.

Separately, she had always been curious about how he acted like he knew everything—how did he have such information?

This time, he told Yui that she was going to die out of the blue.

That’s why it’s hard to believe him.

Besides, saying he read it in a novel was just unbelievable in general.

Unless it was an oracle from God or something.

“I-I’m going to die…?”

“You were supposed to have died a long time ago, but I just had to go and mess everything up.”

“Dehe,” Luke scratched his head with a grin.

“Yui, do you know what possession is?”

“Is it… when a soul enters a body and can control it freely?”

“Yep. That’s me.”

“…What?”

Nothing to hide here. I went straight for the reveal.

There was no reason to keep it a secret.

In other novels, protagonists often use the excuse that they can’t give their heart to a heroine because they’ll return to their original world once everything’s over.

“But I have no intention of returning to my original world.”

Who’d send me back against my will?

I’ve already discovered the joy of possession, and if they tried to force me back, I’d just kill myself and reincarnate back into this world!

“This world you live in is a novel, and I’m from another world.”

As I was talking, the food we ordered started to arrive one by one.

Luke popped a big bite of food into his mouth and mumbled.

“How should I put it… I thought it was a fairy tale, but it feels like I’m staring into the abyss…”

“To me, it’s no different than a fairy tale.”

If it felt like a depressing and hopeless novel, I would have quit a long time ago.

“So what do you mean I was supposed to die?”

“Arthur’s the protagonist, right? You were originally supposed to rampage in the Count’s territory until it was on the brink of destruction, then get split in half and die by Arthur.”

“Yikes…”

In the original world, sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Since she asked, I answered her.

“By the way, Arthur is also a possessor.”

“So that’s why he was so adamant about killing me back then?”

“Yep.”

In that instant, Yui remembered.

The time she had a Nightmare in the Marquis territory.

“So that wasn’t just a dream…”

And oddly enough, she felt relieved.

In a dark past where she might have died, she was alive now, and more importantly, she didn’t have to go around killing people.

As Yui sighed in relief, Luna, who had been quietly listening until now, posed a question.

“If that’s true, then why didn’t you tell us until now?”

Luna was curious.

Why did he keep that information hidden?

“Because you didn’t ask.”

“…Huh?”

“I won’t tell you unless you ask.”

“No way… How could you not mention something so important…?”

It’s true that it was never asked, but who wouldn’t share important information without being prompted?

Honestly, who would go up to someone and say, “Hey, are you a possessor?”

Coming back from seeing an Undead, a possessor didn’t seem like much different.

Just a living, thinking Undead.

While Luke’s words were questionable, the events that had actually transpired made it hard to disbelieve again this time.

The incident where he suddenly claimed to be a Vampire, and now knowing there was a Demon inside.

It was all too real to just brush off as delusions.

“So do you guys know what happens to me or Luke in the future?”

“Don’t know.”

“…What?”

Why did he speak as if he knew everything until now but suddenly not know about this?

She wondered if everything she believed up till now might just be some delusions of Luke.

“How could I possibly know something that doesn’t appear in the novel? Luke will either return to his hometown to farm or die, one of the two. Luna, you’ll probably be a slave somewhere.”

“Are you saying we’re side characters?”

“If you are side characters, then consider yourself lucky.”

If we were to get technical, Luke and Luna weren’t even supporting characters.

They weren’t characters at all.

You can’t really call someone a character if they don’t even appear in the work.

“So then… how does that novel end?”

“You beat the Demon God and have sex with the heroines.”

“Sex…?”

“Yeah, that thing called sex.”

Beat the Demon God, and until the side stories, have fun with the heroines.

That’s how the main story ended.

“That feels really anticlimactic…”

Like whatever you do seems meaningless, like everything you’ve done so far has gone to waste.

A sudden wave of emptiness overwhelmed Luna.

“It’s okay. Where I came from was way worse than here.”

Reality is even more like a novel than a novel, huh?

If you lived in that world, you’d have no choice but to become a slave to survive.

“But that person named Arthur seemed a bit strange… Are we really okay?”

“We can take down the Demon God even without him.”

It’s a bit harsh to say, but the Demon God, often referred to as the final boss, was genuinely weak.

No, relatively weak.

He was only strong because Arthur kept insisting on facing him alone in the main story; otherwise, an S-Rank Adventurer and guys like Elves could take him down just by cooperating.

The reason the Demon God could hold the final boss title was due to various overpowered abilities, including the ability to control Monsters.

When the full-scale war began, Monsters would swarm from all directions.

Just like fending off Zerglings in StarCraft.

Without those, the main body is just a slightly strong Demon.

“So what should we do from now on?”

“Have fun.”

“Is that really the right thing to do…?”

“I’ll just dump all the annoying stuff on you and do what I want!”

That’s why I possessed this body.

Honestly, I’m relieved I’m not the protagonist.

Once you get older, even if you want to play, you can’t.

Luke grasped the cup of alcohol and gulped it down.

“Ugh~ Bitter! Why do I drink this stuff?”

– Bang!

“…What?”

What was that sudden noise?

When Luna and Yui turned to the source of the sound, they found Luke with his head slumped on the table, fast asleep.

“Uh… Luke?”

“Luke?”

Luke’s body was weak to alcohol.

And Luke himself had never drunk in his past life.

It was only natural that someone who drank cola all the time wouldn’t handle alcohol well.

In short.

Luke was a lightweight.

 

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