novelraw Chapter 190
Chapter 190
Chapter 190
Stingray Academy Branch, Chairman’s Office.
I first brought Silence, Iri, and Miyu all to my room.
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere wasn’t just heavy—it was suffocating.
Even if someone sprayed poison gas, it would’ve been easier to breathe than this.
I had the [Poison Immunity] module, of course, along with an [Oxygen Tank] module in case I couldn’t breathe. But every time I inhaled, it felt like something was stuck in my throat, clogging me up.
I sat down at my desk, laced my fingers together, and covered my face with both hands while only my eyes moved, scanning the situation.
Iri still hadn’t recovered after fainting earlier. She was sprawled out on the sofa, mumbling strange nonsense in a daze.
Miyu was at her side, taking care of her.
Evangeline was imitating Miyu’s movements or poking Iri’s cheeks while giggling.
Wait a second.
Evangeline, where did you come from?
It seemed she had been in the playroom, sensed her older brother and sister nearby, and dashed over, wanting to join in.
Meanwhile, Silence was keeping a bit of distance from the girls, leaning his back against the wall.
With his arms crossed, he tapped his bicep with his fingers. Unlike usual, there wasn’t a single emoticon displayed on his LED Mask. His displeasure radiated off him, sharp and clear.
Ah, Iri. Try to wake up. Honey water…
Uuurgh.
Can I drink that instead?
-[Haaah……]
Yep, it was chaos.
Maybe I should run away.
The impulse hit me for a moment, but I was Aaron Stingray. I wasn’t some mythical monster, but there was no way I’d tuck my tail and flee from something like this.
Head-on breakthrough.
That was my only option.
“Let’s talk, Silence.”
I jerked my chin toward Silence, who was standing in the corner of the office, calling him to my desk. Though visibly dissatisfied, he reluctantly obeyed.
I activated the Noise Canceler.
An invisible soundproof barrier enclosed us, and I quietly began the conversation.
“Strictly speaking, romance inside the Academy is forbidden. You know that, right?”
“[…]”
Nod.
Silence slowly bobbed his head up and down. His fierce aura eased somewhat.
Good. By sticking to principles, I could gloss over the fact that I’d been watching their romance like it was popcorn entertainment.
“Especially since next year you’ll be a fourth-year. You know that corporate scholarship students begin a sort of ‘internship’ from then on, right?”
“[……I know.]”
Silence nodded again.
I lowered my voice and asked,
“So what do you want to do?”
“What?”
“Rules are just rules.”
I relaxed my posture slightly and continued.
“You probably haven’t completely forgiven me yet. Honestly, I imagine even sitting face-to-face like this isn’t comfortable for you.”
“……”
“In a way, the trouble you’re going through now could be said to be my fault. I know a simple apology isn’t enough.”
“[If you’re trying to pay for your sins, don’t bother.]”
Silence answered curtly.
“[Aaron Stingray, you already died once. That you and the you now aren’t the same. At least, that’s how I see it. It’s true I haven’t completely forgiven you yet, but… I don’t intend to blame you, nor do I want to gain privileges from it.]”
“I see.”
As expected, Silence was a sincere guy.
Even though he had long connections in the back-alley world.
“[I just have a few questions.]”
“What are they?”
“[First one… why is Iri acting like that over there?]”
“……”
Ouch, that hit the mark.
Like an assassin, he struck straight at the vital point. That question hurt.
But without letting a trace of that show, I calmly answered,
“Looks like she drank too much at the festival.”
“[That’s all?]”
“What else could there be?”
At least, that’s what I believed.
Though, admittedly, chalking it up to simple overdrinking might be lacking. That ‘situation’ in the hallway had been… odd, hard to put into words.
Even though nothing particularly special happened, for some reason, the conversation I had with Iri right before she fainted kept replaying in my head.
A little while ago.
While hiding in the hallway with me, ready to watch with popcorn, Iri suddenly turned her head toward me right after Raina’s bold confession.
Only then did I realize how ridiculously close she and I were standing. It was because we had been squeezed together in a cramped space.
Ch-chairman… no, Aaron.
Had Raina’s confession affected Iri in some strange way?
In her eyes, something like unknown courage shimmered. Or maybe not courage—“intoxication” might have been the better word.
Even if her Replacement Rate was low, she was still an Adaptee.
It was rare for an Adaptee to get red-faced drunk like this, so I grew a little concerned and leaned closer to examine her face. I was even considering using my Ocular Scanner module to check her health condition.
And then, at that moment.
As though releasing something she had been holding back, Iri asked me,
What am I… to you?
What?
Just a student with talent?
I was struck speechless.
But Iri didn’t stop her barrage of questions.
Why are you nice to me?
Is it just because I’m a useful asset?
Or… is there something more than that?
Her voice grew louder as her intoxication rose.
She seemed to have forgotten that Miyu was right beside her, or even that we were hiding in the first place.
At this rate, Silence and Raina would surely notice us.
In a rush, I covered her mouth with one hand. Then, through voice chat, I said, [Be quiet].
But for some reason, my voice didn’t seem to reach Iri. Maybe the signal was bad, or maybe she was too drunk to properly use her internal cyberware.
With no other choice, I bent down slightly, lowering my head to bring my lips close to her ear. It ended up looking like I was half-embracing her, but that didn’t matter.
Calm down and lower your voice… Iri?
Pop!
A small explosive sound rang out.
It came from Iri’s body. I felt the sudden loss of strength from her frame.
The moment I released her, she went limp and collapsed onto the floor.
Ah, Iri!? Aaron, what did you do!?
N-no. I didn’t do anything…
Miyu panicked at the sight of Iri suddenly fainting, blurting out questions. But I, who had done nothing at all, was just as bewildered.
And about thirty seconds later—
Silence caught us.
“Miyu said it seemed her temperature suddenly spiked.”
“[Temperature?]”
“Well, she probably drank too much, and her internal cyberware and nanomachines malfunctioned.”
“[R-really…?]”
Ending my brief recollection, that was the excuse I gave. Of course, Miyu had also mentioned another possible cause besides alcohol—“a sudden rise in body temperature due to heightened excitement”—but there was no need to bring that up.
Anyway.
“Is that all you wanted to know?”
“[No. One more.]”
Scratching the back of his head, Silence spoke again.
“[You…]”
It seemed hard for him to say. He trailed off, hesitating, then finally finished his line with a sigh.
“[What do you think I should do?]”
“Do as you want.”
“[Isn’t that a little irresponsible…?]”
“I’m just respecting your will.”
As one man to another.
“I have no intention of strictly enforcing a rule that’s little more than empty words. There are actually far more student couples inside the Academy than you’d think, and the sponsors are fully aware of it.”
“[R-really…?]”
“Yes.”
Honestly, it was strange to expect young men and women, crammed together in one place, not to develop feelings.
And the sponsoring corporations, who only saw students as “money,” hardly cared about their romances.
The rule against dating existed to prevent disorderly conduct, but unless it was a special case, no one enforced it strictly.
“As long as you don’t disrupt the atmosphere of the Special Class, I don’t care if you date Raina or not. But…”
I cleared my throat.
“The past is just the past.”
Whether it was nightmares, experiences from a previous life, Junk Chips, or other memories—no matter how vivid they had been, once lived, they remained nothing more than data in the mind.
And yet, while people dismiss nightmares as just dreams, and Junk Chips as mere amusement, for some reason they can’t escape from the weight of the past.
That was because people gave far too much meaning to those particular memories. I once did so, and Silence was the same now.
“I hope you won’t cling to the past and lose your future.”
“[Are you saying I should date Raina?]”
“I’m saying it’s your choice.”
In the original work, Silence overcame his past wounds and grew stronger, thanks to the protagonist and their companions.
The story mainly described the big “events” as the episodes unfolded. Which meant, no matter how much I knew, I could never fully understand what kind of daily life Silence had lived, or the exact thought process through which he overcame his scars.
All I could do was speculate and draw conclusions.
I guessed that his relationship with Raina would help him greatly. But it must not be a relationship created by outside interference.
It would be like killing a caterpillar just to see a butterfly before the cocoon was finished.
Silence had to grow on his own.
Not just Silence.
Iri, Miyu, Ciel, Raina, Evangeline—
In this world without the protagonist, they would all have to learn how to make choices and grow on their own. For now, I had no choice but to step in and fill the protagonist’s role to some degree, but ultimately…
“Choose for yourself.”
Choose for yourself.
And live for yourself.
It wasn’t just about independence—if they grew beyond my expectations, there would be nothing more I could ask for.
“Because I can’t stay by your side forever.”
That was why I had deliberately hired Lexus Bane as a tutor, despite being able to teach directly myself. Why, even with the power to control everything within the Academy, I created the Student Council and made Iri the Student Council President.
It was also why I entrusted Miyu to Professor Richardson, why I left Evangeline in Maria’s care, and why I gave Ciel the ability of a Techno-Wizard.
And that was also—
Why I had to keep pretending not to notice Iri’s feelings.