Chapter 297: Unintended Cohabitation

Chapter 297: Unintended Cohabitation

༺ Unintended Cohabitation ༻

“Gasp, gasp...”

“W-why are you like this?”

As Frey struggled to breathe, he lowered his head with a pale expression. Seeing Frey suddenly gasping for breath, Aria asked him with a slightly bewildered look.

‘I can’t breathe. I can’t...’

However, Frey’s condition only worsened atAria’s questioning voice.

“...Where does it hurt?”

Aria, who had been silently observing him, finally asked quietly.

“N-no. It’s nothing.”

Hearing a hint of concern in her voice startled him, he bit his lip and turned his head sideways.

“It’s strange.”

After scrutinizing Frey for a while, she eventually tilted her head.

Having observed Frey’s deteriorating condition since childhood, she instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

– Crackle...

In that situation, Frey closed his eyes tightly and exerted force on his left arm.

– Shaaa...

Then, dark mana began to flow from his arm.

“...So, it’s a side effect, huh?”

Seeing that, Aria, lowering her eyes, muttered in a cold voice.

“That’s right. That’s what it is.”

“...Ugh.”

At that moment, a cold energy once again penetrated Frey’s chest.

‘H-has the curse of Aishi recurred?’

Thinking along those lines, Frey began to feel his chest, but he felt no chill.

In a way, it was inevitable.

It was because it was a phenomenon rooted in psychological reasons.

“Let me get straight to the point.”

Aria finally spoke after silently watching Frey confusedly touching the area around his heart.

“I’m enrolling as a first-year student starting today.”

“...”

“So, I came to get your stamp as the professor in charge.”

Then, she took out a piece of paper from her pocket.

“I’ve already received permission from the dean and board of directors. So, you have no right to refuse. Just stamp it already and stop trying to weasel out of it...”

“A-A-A-Aria.”

“Huh?”

Aria spoke with a firm voice, thinking Frey might be up to something again. She was startled when he suddenly called her name and grabbed her hand.

“C-Can you listen to me for a moment?”

“Wh-What are you doing right now?”

Unfazed, Frey tightened his grip on her hand and began to speak.

“Please, don’t enroll in the academy...”

“What?”

“P-Please. I’m begging you...”

Slowly rising from his seat, he pleaded with an earnest gaze and voice.

“...W-what is this?”

Aria’s gaze slightly wavered as she observed his expression.

“What the hell are you doing...”

It was the appearance of her older brother, whom she had longed to see again and thought she would never see again.

The one who used to carry her when her legs hurt.

The one who always shared delicious food, dividing it evenly onto her plate.

And when she stumbled and got scratched, he was the one who would rush over, terrified, and blow on the injury before she could even cry.

He was making that same expression and gaze at this moment.

“It’s a dangerous time now. You shouldn’t come.”

“What?”

“Several worst-case scenarios could occur. There might be casualties, and in the worst case, we might fail. Right now, everything is uncertain...”

“W-wait a minute! What in the world are you saying!”

However, the words coming out of his mouth were too difficult to understand.

Scenarios? Casualties? Uncertainty?

What in the world was he talking about?

“What kind of trouble are you trying to cause?”

No matter how much she thought about it, Aria could only speculate that Frey, as a key figure, was orchestrating a massive incident.

Then, there was also Ruby’s warning of a grand conspiracy that could endanger the entire academy.

“You bastard!.”

Therefore, Aria strengthened her slowly chipping determination and thought quietly to herself.

‘Is this... effective in any way?’

“Uh, uh.”

‘Despite everything I’ve said so far, she hasn’t batted an eye at all... Mhm?’

Then, her eyes widen when she hears a sound coming from in front of her.

“I-I’m sorry, Aria...”

Frey looked at her, trembling with a pale and aghast face.

“I’m sorry as your brother...”

With an expression filled with guilt and concern, he left those words behind, before lowering his head.

“Now you’re pretending to be hurt?”

“Sorry... I’m Sorry, Aria...”

“Don’t mention my name with that mouth of yours!”

Aria, unable to bear the strange sight of his brother trembling like a frightened cat, pushed Frey’s hand away, and stood up from her seat.

“Heik...!”

Frey, with a frightened expression, hunched.

“It’s my fault...”

Then, he closes his eyes tightly and speaks in a trembling voice.

Aria watched him blankly for a moment, and when Frey, who had been looking down at the letter for a while, raised his head, she hurried out of the room.

“...”

And silence filled the room.

“No matter how much I think about it, something feels strange...”

In that situation, still holding onto his pounding heart, Frey took a deep breath and displayed his information in front of him.

[Stats]

Name: Frey

Strength: 10

Mana: 10

Intelligence: ???

Mental Strength: 0.1~1

Passive Status: Terminal Illness / Mental Strength Degradation LV MAX

Disposition: Hero

Goodness Stat: 100

“Ah...”

Frey’s complexion darkened abruptly as he checked his mental strength.

.

.

.

.

.

– Creak...

Stepping out of the waiting room and into the hallway, Frey quietly surveyed his surroundings.

– Ssk...

Because of that, the gazes of some students and professors who were in the faculty office were now fixed on him.

“Ugh.”

Frey sat down in his seat with his face turning pale, and muttered in a low voice while clutched his head.

“From now on until the next performance evaluation... I have to live as a second-year student...”

Despite becoming a ‘Special Lecturer’ and obtaining access to the ‘Professor’s Dormitory’ and ‘Faculty Office Pass’, Frey’s official status remained that of an academy student.

Having to live as a student for a week and then as a professor for the next week, coupled with this mysterious debuff, was akin to a death sentence.

“The next main scenario is the student council president election, and I haven’t finished preparing for the performance evaluation yet... Damn it all...”

Main Quest: Student Council President Election

Quest Content: Prevent Alice from becoming the Student Council President!

To make matters worse, as soon as the entrance ceremony scenario ended, the next important scenario began, so Frey’s anxiety was reaching its peak.

– Grit, grit...

Due to the traumas accumulated since his childhood, Frey had been suffering with various neurosis, mental fragility, anxiety disorders, and auditory hallucinations.

Therefore, he could only forcibly suppress the desire to go crazy or give up everything by utilizing his mental strength, which was pushing between 9 and 10.

However, if his mental strength became fixed between 0.1 and 1, it was clear that something drastic would happen.

“Look, it’s Frey.”

“Is he really sitting in the faculty office? How shameless.”

“So, starting tomorrow, he will join class 2A, right? I’m really looking forward to it.”

“I’m dying to know how the commoners will treat him.”

Frey glanced around nervously with a pale expression on his seat. He lowered his eyes in fear when he heard gossip about himself from afar.

Just a few minutes ago, this action of his was something that would have been unthinkable.

‘K-Kania... I should contact Kania. No, Lulu? Is Lulu closer to me?’

He shuddered at the feeling of everyone’s eyes crawling around his body like bugs, and began to think urgently.

‘I should also check the special system... Maybe there’s a way to overcome this. But, no matter how much I think about it, how can I find tranquility...’

“Frey? What’s going on?”

Amidst the chaos in his head, a familiar voice reached him from the side.

“W-Why are you biting your nails like th—”

“Sister Isolet”

“...!?”

Realizing that Isolet was looking at him with a worried expression, Frey urgently grabbed her hand and spoke.

“Why is your hand so cold...”

“Take me somewhere.”

“Wh-where to?”

“...To the faculty dormitory.”

Hearing this, Isolet made a perplexed expression.

“I don’t know why you’re acting like this, but if you’re sick, you should go to the infirmary...”

“I’m scared.”

“What?”

“Everything is so scary. I feel like I’m going to go insane...”

Isolet’s gaze slowly started to tremble as Frey looked at her desperately.

“I want to go to the quietest place possible... I need someone who almost never gives me trauma... Please...”

“Wh-what’s going on... Hik!”

“Please take me there.”

When Frey pleaded and buried his face in her stomach, she bit her lips in concern.

“But, the room isn’t ready yet for an unexpected addition like you...”

“I-It’s an order.”

When Frey raised the ring of oath in his right hand and summoned all the strength he had left to make a dignified expression, Isolet fell silent.

“Take me... right away... You can see this ring, right? Hurry up, follow my order.”

‘This... It can’t be helped. He doesn’t seem in a good state, but for now, I’ll play along...’

“You’re my property... Isolet.”

‘Mm-hmm. I can’t help it. It’s an emergency.’

Two professors entered the quiet faculty dormitory as the day drew to a close.

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