SSS-Class Revival Hunter

Chapter 91: Falling (1)

Last year, the emperor had given titles to two young noble ladies.

“... Lady Sylvia Evanail, the daughter of the Baron of Evanail. You are like a golden thread flower blooming in the middle of a yellow flower garden... From now on, people will call you...”

Lady Goldencup[1], the female lead of this world.

“... Lady Raviel Ivansia, the daughter of the Duke of Ivansia... You are a flower who plated yourself in silver so you would stand tall... Child, from now on, the people of the empire will call you...”

Lady Silver Lily, the villainess of this apocalyptic book.

In this world, young ladies of noble families usually received titles during their debutantes, given by those of the imperial family or one of the great noble families who hosted their debutantes.

However, the titles given by a baron were different from those given by a count. Depending on how noble the person who gave the new name was, a young lady’s title carried a different class.

The most classy ones were, of course, the ones given by the emperor. The fact that the emperor gave a title to a young lady was an honor to her and her family. Since these two young ladies from the same academy received such an honor together, a huge storm was bound to strike.

Even so...

I looked at the crown prince. He was holding the Inquisitor, who was playing the role of Lady Goldencup. The crown prince’s hug was so tight that the Inquisitor’s dress was getting wrinkled.

Wasn’t he too frivolous for a crown prince of a country?

I found it strangely unpleasant.

Our eyes met. I had been looking at him somewhat dumbstruck, so I had to quickly look at the floor. But the crown prince’s gaze was strange. I could see negative emotions like contempt and anger swirling in his eyes.

“...You survived too,” the crown prince muttered.

Oh. Was he talking to me? His gaze was fixed on me, so it looked like that was the case. But his voice sounded like someone who’d stepped on a turd. In other words, he was disgusted.

“Yes, Your Highness,” I answered, mimicking what I had seen in historical dramas. “I have managed to survive.”

“You’re lucky.”

“How could it be luck, Your Highness? I am merely a lowly butler. It was only possible through your grace.”

The crown prince’s straight eyebrows crinkled at the subtle implication that he had staged the attack. After all, a guilty conscience needed no accuser, and even a simple greeting could stir it.

“You praise me too much. Are you going to say next that everything in the world happens because of my grace? Your good fortune saved both your own life and Sylvia from the evil assassins. You have my gratitude.”

Wow. At first, it seemed like he was graciously praising me, but in between the lines, he really wasn’t. He was belittling me for surviving because of luck, not skill.

No way. I really wanted to think I was wrong, but the crown prince considered me his rival right now?

Before I knew it, my mouth was moving. “Lady Goldencup is my master, and I am her tool, Your Highness. How could it be luck for her sword to protect its master?”

I was baffled. Seriously. I was just planning on ending this conversation quickly and not causing a fuss. No good could come of a butler fighting a crown prince. And yet, my tongue kept moving.

“The tool has simply served its purpose, so please save your compliments. I don’t deserve it.”

Huh? Did I finally go crazy? I wondered.

Just when my mind was getting a little muddled, I heard the voice.

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

What?

[Your immersion level is 1%.]

The fuck?

“...Really, you’re so eloquent that I want to sew your lips together.” The crown prince’s face contorted. He looked like he wanted to swear at me for my insults, but he was holding himself back.

I wanted to swear out loud too because the crown prince’s frown made me feel good and strangely refreshed, rather than a sign that I should stop here.

This was crazy. It was insane.

“It looks like families of barons nowadays select their servants based on their mouths, not their personalities. If His Majesty knew about this state of affairs, he would lament,” the crown prince muttered.

Wait a minute. Hold on, you crown prince something. Don’t provoke me anymore. Please don’t provoke me, you ramen-head. Wait, t-this stage is—

Again, my mouth moved.

“I highly doubt that, Your Highness. The heavens forbid the day His Majesty’s eyes are clouded by worry. You’ve grown up to be such a fine man and are building virtue in the academy, so I believe His Majesty will be greatly pleased."

In other words, I was sarcastically saying, “Your dad would love it if he finds out you go around and hire assassins.” But this bickering wasn’t important right now.

I realized the trap of this stage, and I also realized why the Paladin and the Countess, the Hunters who each handled the economy and order of the Tower, had helplessly failed to clear the book.

Yeah, it was weird! Those two seemed to be taken over by their characters the longer they were in here!

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

No.

[Your immersion level is 2%.]

This was crazy.

“Hmph. Forget it. I’m disgracing myself by arguing with you.” The crown prince turned to look at the Inquisitor. “I’ll thoroughly investigate what happened tonight.”

"There is no one in the academy as trustworthy as you, Your Highness. I must simply pray that you uncover the mastermind behind the attack and make an example of them to others.” I bowed.

“Of course.”

Ah, this was the problem! This was what was weird about this stage!

The crown prince gave me a hooded glare. “Lady Sylvia seems to have been shocked by tonight’s ambush, and there may be more of them lurking around. So I’ll protect her for today.”

“Your Highness,” my mouth said, “please forgive my rudeness, but the lady should rest in a place where she is most comfortable in times like these. My master will want to stay in her dormitory room as usual.”

“...Are you saying that she can’t be at peace if she’s by my side?”

“My apologies, but I am just trying to tell you the truth, Your Highness.”

My mouth’s outrageous rampage made me scream internally.

Save me. Someone, please, save me!

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

[Your immersion level is 3%.]

Help me! Help me!

—Hey... What are you doing? The Guardian peered at me.

Mr. Sword Emperor! No! O Almighty Sword Emperor!

—Huh? Have you finally gone crazy?

I am going crazy, so please do something about it!

—Uh... What do you want me to do?

I don’t know. Do anything to make me come to my senses!

—Hmm. Can I say something really terrible?

I don’t care what you say. Just wake me up!

—Oh, then... The Guardian smirked. Zombie, you seem to find the Viper gross. But, whenever you get a chance, you act like those cringy main characters in the Viper’s delusions...

Ah. That’s good enough. I’m awake. Don’t even finish that sentence.

—Alright.

I suddenly felt wide awake. How dare the Guardian pull the Viper on me. What a sly ghost. I had said that he could say anything, but that was too much of anything. Well, thanks to him, my immersion level stopped skyrocketing.

The Inquisitor, whose face was buried in the crown prince’s arms, wasn’t his normal self either.

“...Huh...?” The Inquisitor kept tilting his head. For the first time, I saw that the Inquisitor was perplexed. A self-acknowledged and also objectively a top-tier wacko. The born psycho didn’t understand the emotions he was feeling right now.

Maybe that was why the Inquisitor pushed away the crown prince’s chest, escaping from his arms. The crown prince, who had been fighting with me, looked at Lady Goldencup—no, the Inquisitor, in confusion.

“Sylvia, what is wrong?”

“Hmm? ...Huh? Oh?” The Inquisitor tilted his head once more. “How strange.” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“What do you mean strange, Sylvia?”

“For the first time in my life, I’m experiencing an unfamiliar emotion.” The Inquisitor smiled sheepishly. “My heart is throbbing. It’s pounding very hard. Oh. Aha. Wow! How mysterious...”

The Inquisitor closed his eyes and placed his hands on his chest. He, now Lady Goldencup, was smiling slightly as if he were listening to beautiful classical music. “It seems that the owner of this body really likes you!”

“S-Sylvia...” The crown prince was almost moved to tears.

If I hadn’t stopped the immersion level from rising, I might have felt jealous—but fortunately, I was myself again now.

“My lady.” I carefully enunciated my words.

The Inquisitor opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Let us return to the dormitory. His Highness has given his word that he will reveal the mastermind behind the attack, and it is late into the night now. You should go back to your dormitory and rest. You still have to prepare for tomorrow, my lady.” I gave the Inquisitor a stare.

We had a goal as well as our roles—to clear this book. We could not forget this.

“Oh, right. That’s right.” The Inquisitor blinked, understanding what I meant. He curtsied to the crown prince. “Thank you for your considerate gesture, but I will return to the dormitory with my servant.”

“Uh?” The crown prince gaped.

“Good night, Your Highness. Please excuse me!” The Inquisitor turned his back on the crown prince while his mouth was still hanging open and left the storage room with light steps.

“Sylvia! S-Sylvia?” the crown prince belatedly shouted at his back.

But the Inquisitor just walked down the hallway with a smile, not even looking back.

“...Things have gotten tricky,” I muttered, close behind the Inquisitor. “Immersion level? I didn’t know there would be a trap like this. Damn it.”

I finally understood why the Countess and the Paladin had failed.

“Hahaha.” The Inquisitor smiled enigmatically.

Our shoes tapped against the floor as we crossed the moonlit hallway. Our footsteps resembled heartbeats.

“This is certainly unexpected. Mr. Death King, how much did your immersion level go up just now?”

“It skyrocketed to three percent. I barely managed to stop it.”

“That’s amazing. I hit ten percent right away!”

I was at a loss for words. Ten percent? Ten?

I was stupefied. Just spending a short time with the crown prince had infected ten percent of the Inquisitor. The situation was more serious than I had thought. At this rate, even living normally was no different from walking through a poisonous fog. If I let my guard down, I would be slowly poisoned, and by the time I came to my senses, I would be consumed by this world of romance, no longer able to escape.

“... No, we can’t do it like this,” I slowly said. I was nervous. Even the possibility of losing myself terrified me like nothing else. “Let’s choose safe words.”

“Safe words?”

I carefully felt the hilt of my dagger. The familiar feeling of the box tape brought me a sense of stability. “Yes, safe words. No matter what the situation or how serious it is, we say the words and then wake up. For example, if I say ‘peach,’ you say ‘carrot.’”

“Aha, so it’s like a secret code!” The Inquisitor laughed. “I agree! I’ve seen something similar in a drama. Then what word should be our secret code—”

At that moment, the sound of heels came from across the hallway. The precarious sounds were followed by dull footsteps—a person was approaching, accompanied by several servants. A reflection of the moon was cast on the hallway, but they trampled over it.

The hair of the woman walking at the front was as silver as the moonlight. She was called Lady Silver Lily, the duke’s daughter and the villainess. As she walked toward me and the Inquisitor, leading her followers, she scowled and glared at us so hard that it made me wonder why she was so angry.

The Inquisitor let out a short groan and tiptoed over to me. “... Mr. Death King,” he whispered, “... it seems that I hate that woman.”

At first, his voice was the same as always. I slowly turned my head and looked at the Inquisitor. He twirled, making his long dress flutter. I could feel a little gust of wind in my chest that was as warm as he was.

“I’m curious, Mr. Death King.”

The Inquisitor stopped twirling and spread out his arms, folding all his fingers except for the index finger, which was the only finger that was exposed to the air.

“Ah, I'm really curious. What kind of expression am I making right now?”

He was smiling as always, pressing his index fingers to raise the corner of his mouth, but his eyes weren’t smiling.

[Your character immersion has deepened.]

[Your immersion level is 4%.]

1. This is actually Korean wordplay. The raw is 금사매(Goldencup Saint-John's-wort), but 금사 also means golden thread. ☜