Chapter 299: Lick Me A Bit

Chapter 299: Lick Me A Bit

༺ Lick Me A Bit ༻

“E-Excuse me...”

– Srrrk...

Seeing the Hero of Money diligently untying the black rope that bound her, Alice extended her freed hand towards him.

“Ugh.”

At that moment, he stopped untying the rope and flinched.

“B-by any chance... Have you ever seen me before?”

Seeing him in such a state, Alice, unsure of what to do, asked hesitantly.

“...N-no. I haven’t had such an experience, but...”

Frey, the Hero of Money, immediately shook his head vigorously.

“Forget about that. We need to leave here quickly. There’s no time to waste.”

“Pardon?”

“We don’t know when the one who imprisoned you will return.”

Soon after, he lifted Alice and spoke.

“You’ve been trapped here, right? I’ve been searching for you since you went missing. Fortunately, I found you.”

“...?”

A slightly calmer demeanor replaced the trembling fear from earlier.

Perplexed by the sudden change, Alice looked at him bewilderedly. But she eventually turned her gaze away.

“Uh...”

Then, the space where she had been confined since she was attacked by someone hiding in the corner after she attempted to assault Frey a week ago suddenly came into view.

“...Disgusting.”

She muttered as she recalled the events that had happened within the past week, but then she looked at the Hero of Money in front of her and tried to express her gratitude.

“Thank you, Hero of Money...”

“Uh, uh. Uh, uh, uh.”

“.....?”

For some reason, hearing her voice filled with cold hatred made him tremble again.

“E-excuse me...”

Seeing that sight, Alice felt her heart sink once again.

Though it was incredibly difficult to discern his face, he was clearly gripped by fear.

Alice had witnessed people being terrified countless times.

The expression he made was similar to the one she had seen many times when people heard her words filled with cold hatred right before she took their lives.

No, I’ve only killed those who deserved to die. I’ve never attacked the Hero of Money in the past.

“Uh, Hero of Money... are you a student at the academy?”

As those people’s expressions continued to haunt her, Alice thought hard to ask the question.

“...It’s a secret. Well, it’ll soon become public knowledge anyway.”

Then, the Hero of Money led her out of the classroom and answered softly.

“By the way, is there something wrong? Why are you so...?”

“Oh, I’m feeling a bit unwell right now. I’ve caught a severe cold, so it’s better not to touch me.”

Reaching out to him again, Alice tried to touch his hand, but he quickly withdrew, and started to nervously chew on his lips.

“Here, take this.”

“What is this...?”

While they were walking down the corridor, Frey took something out of his pocket and handed it to her.

“You must be hungry, right? I made a lunchbox for you.”

“Ah...”

It was a lunchbox containing rice with a smiling pea drawn on it and various side dishes.Thê source of this content n/o/v/(el)bi((n))

The lunchbox consisted of the most delicious foods the Hero of Money had enjoyed when eating with the second-year commoner students.

“I-I made it myself. I hope you like it.”

“Ah...”

At that moment, the realization dawned on Alice that the ‘Hero of Money’ had just saved her life.

“Th-thank you. Thank you so much...”

So, she set aside the troubled thoughts from earlier and bowed with a grateful heart, tears pooling in her eyes.

“I-I thought... I would be trapped there forever...”

Simultaneously, fear and sorrow burst forth out of her.

“Frey trapped me there... He said that place would be my home from now on... No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get out...”

Tearfully, Alice spoke with choked-up emotions.

“Th-thank you for saving me. I want to repay you, but...”

“Then, be my friend.”

“...Pardon?”

When the Hero of Money cautiously held out his hand and made the request, she looked at him perplexed.

“I want to be friends with you, Alice.”

Gazing at Alice, the Hero of Money closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke again.

“I... don’t have an ordinary friend I can open up to and share my thoughts with.”

“Ah...?”

“So, I want to be friends with you and share our thoughts with each other.”

Saying that, the Hero of Money cast his eyes downward, twirling his foot timidly.

“W-will you be the one I can talk to about my story?”

“...”

Alice’s expression slowly began to stiffen.

.

.

.

.

.

“I-if you don’t want to, you can refuse. I would never force you.”

The Hero of Money, holding Alice’s hand, desperately added while staring at her. Observing him, Alice thought to herself.

Alice thought he was such a strange person. Despite having so much wealth, he seemed happiest when sharing various stories with his commoner peers.

All the rich and powerful people she had encountered so far were despicable individuals.

The Secret Lord who cursed and manipulated her, the worst scoundrel Frey, Count Justiano, who occasionally entrusted her with tasks, the sponsors who tried to devour the commoners a few months ago, and many more.

In the end, poor people like her and her friends were inevitably crushed by such people.

However, what about the Hero of Money, who was now extending a lunchbox and wearing a shy expression towards her?

The price for his hefty sponsorship was simply him asking about their well-being, recent hardships, life in the academy, studies, and friendships— just casual questions.

He was someone who considered these kinds of things the joy of life.

Moreover, occasionally, after such Q&A sessions, students who had complained about their parents’ illnesses or bullying would miraculously see improvements in their condition the next day.

Their Parents’ conditions would improve, special medicine would be delivered, or noble students who had relentlessly bullied them would quietly pass by with lowered eyes.

Of course, the commoner students not accustomed to such favors were initially skeptical, thinking it was a scheme to manipulate them.

Yet, until they reached the second academy year, he had never initiated any physical contact, let alone made any personal requests.

He had requested water only once when his throat was dry, but this repayment was too meager to be considered a fair trade for the hefty sponsorship funds.

As expected, this person is...

At first, she had thought of him as just a strange, eccentric person.

Perhaps it was just a noble hobby of an old man who had earned too much money or he simply did it for fun.

However, after seeing his true nature and finding out that he was a student at the Academy, Alice completely changed her mind.

He must have been lonely.

Regardless of who the Hero of Money was or what his identity was, he seemed like someone who was quite lonely.

For some reason, he was unable to share conversations with his peers, but he was sincerely happy just to engage in conversations with commoner students. He was an outcast in desperate need of a friend.

“...Sure.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll be your friend.”

Having willingly accepted his request, Alice silently observed the Hero of Money.

“Thank you.”

In the morning, it was Frey who told everyone that he had been cursed, but it was nothing special and that everyone shouldn’t be worried.

Of course, that was a lie Frey had decided to tell to hide his curse, to prevent the pain that the main heroines would feel if they found out the truth.

Sensing Frey’s determination to conceal his curse, Kania couldn’t bring herself to lift her feet. She looked at Frey, who still smiled brightly, even though he was slightly trembling as he looked at her.

It’s just a weakening of mental strength.

In that situation, Frey muttered with closed eyes.

Other than that, nothing has changed. There are no problems...

Although he thought so inwardly, it didn’t seem very convincing, considering that Frey had been holding onto his wrecked mind with just his mental strength for as long as he could remember.

“Frey...”

Meanwhile, Irina, who hastily headed to sit behind Frey, made eye contact with Frey and froze, unable to move her feet any longer.

“W-what kind of curse have you been subjected to...”

Smiling as if nothing was wrong, Frey just shrugged his shoulders.

– Shiver...

However, the trembling arms under the desk couldn’t be hidden.

“Who the hell cursed you like that...”

That scene resembled the moment when he killed a werewolf attacking Irina with a club.

It looked eerily similar to the scene of young Frey sitting in the mansion’s waiting room, his arm trembling and his face ashen, several hours later upon realizing the truth.

“...Grind.”

Therefore, Irina had no choice but to sit away from Frey’s sight, grinding her teeth and quietly analyzing Frey’s mana system.

“Frey...”

And the same went for Clana.

“I- I need... I need to help...”

Clana couldn’t sit next to him in the first place.

It was because of the recent scandal between Frey and her; he strongly requested that she be hostile towards him when there were other people around.

Of course, she could sit next to him and still show some hostility, but she was quite quick-witted.

After observing his reactions to Kania and Irina, it was easy to anticipate how he, cursed with an unknown curse, would react upon seeing her.

– Sssk...

Suddenly, when the three girls couldn’t approach him...

“...Lord Frey?”

The crowd of students began to surround him.

“No, should I call you Frey now? You’re just a commoner, right?”

“Why did you still crawl into the academy? No way. Do you think we’ll treat you the same as before? Really? You’re so stupid, hehehe.”

“Hey, punk. How does it feel to fall from grace? Do you understand our feelings now?”

Soon, the verbal abuse began pouring down on him.

“What’s wrong? Are you scared? Your face is completely pale.”

“Look at this motherfucker. He looked like he was about to cry. Is he really Frey? Not a stand-in?”

“I’m sure he might have sent a stand-in because he wants to graduate from the academy. Let’s assume this one is a stand-in. Why does he tremble so much?”

“Oh, cute... You’re so cute...”

Thanks to this, Frey, who was truly frightened, closed his mouth and lowered his head in fear. The ladies who were pinching his cheeks and the students who were watching him began to whisper.

“So, who’s going to be his seat partner? We should decide his owner.”

“Commoners, step aside. We’ll play with him for a bit and then let you enjoy it afterwards.”

“Why not just change seat partners every first period? Except for that crazy professor, all the professors are basically on our side anyway...”

Amidst the ongoing murmur among the nobles, the commoners whispered with a chilling tone.

“From the second year onwards, you know that you can freely request dueling, don’t you?”

“You’re screwed, Frey.”

“Come to the restroom during the break. If you don’t... it’ll be fun, you know?”

Even though he was truly terrified hearing all those words, Frey just kept his mouth shut and his head down, looking quite pitiful.

“...He looks a bit pathetic.”

“It’s because he’s a fallen noble. He probably feels like he has lost everything.”

“No way, no matter what, he’s still Frey.”

The sympathy that arose because of him started to wither around the time someone said,

“He’s still Frey.”

“Everyone step aside.”

In the classroom, a chilling voice echoed.

“What... huh?”

“Uh, uh...?”

Students, who were frowning with displeasure at the sound even though their revenge hadn’t started yet, soon collectively wavered.

“D-don’t push! You lowlife! Where do you think you’re putting your hands...”

“I-I’m not pushing!”

“Kyaak!?”

Students who were trying to move aside as the words commanded eventually lost their balance and began to fall in all directions.

“Get lost, all of you.”

A new command was inflicted upon those students.

– Grrrrr...

Immediately after that command, all students, wearing bewildered expressions, retreated like a receding tide.

“...”

And then, silence engulfed the classroom.

– Srrrrkk...

The one who commanded the students slowly approached Frey.

“...!”

Frey, who eventually looked to the side, widened his eyes.

“Ah...”

Frey, not displaying the same terrified expression as before, smiled brightly with a sense of relief.

– Srrkk...

Lulu slowly sat next to him.

“...Woof♡”

Lulu quietly leaned on Frey’s shoulder and licked his neck.

“Grrrr...”

Then, Lulu started growling loudly, as she stared at the students who were escaping the classroom in the distance.

“Wh-what’s... the relationship between you two?”

One student who, having tripped over a bag on the floor and couldn’t leave the classroom, looked at the two and threw a question with a bewildered expression.

“I am...”

However, when Lulu was about to open her mouth to provide the obvious answer.

“Master’s p—”

“Girlfriend.”

“...Grr!?”

She looked at Frey in surprise when Frey urgently grabbed her hand and spoke next to her.

“She’s my girlfriend.”

Staring at Lulu’s reaction, Frey held her hand even tighter.

“Lulu.”

As his body began to slightly tremble, he whispered to her in a low voice.

“...Lick me a bit.”

Her mind, which turned completely blank and broken, began to rapidly fill with another color.

“Hurry up.”

“...Really?”

The newly filled color inside her mind was the same deep pink as her hair.

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