I Became The Academy Necromancer-Chapter 267: Temporary Alliance

Aria often found herself grappling with a certain concern.

Was this something that happened in the previous cycle?

It wasn’t a side effect of regression. Just the déjà vu moment or usual confusion of memory everyone experienced from time to time.

Just that.

But that didn’t mean there was some incredibly significant memory that confused her.

Did I eat this dish last time?

Who did I hear this joke from?

Haven’t I already taken this subject?

These kinds of trivial and simple things—things that weren’t particularly important and could be overlooked as one lived their life.

The girl was born with the qualities of a hero who would save the continent, but she was not a genius who could organize all her memories neatly in drawers.

She would often rummage through her memories, much like sorting through a disorganized pile of clothes.

And now.

- This is my path.

“Ah.”

The words of Eleanor, who had somehow become her close friend, kept poking at her heart.

Unable to sleep as she lay in her dormitory room, Aria eventually sat on the edge of her bed and gazed out the window.

The sky with a crescent moon was refreshingly clear.

- Aria Rias, if your sole aim is to chase the peace in front of you.

“She did say that back then, right?”

- Do not block my path with your foolishness.

Aria calmly closed her eyes as she recalled the moment when the academy’s main building was occupied by students completely brainwashed by Eleanor’s propaganda.

Standing on the rooftop, Eleanor looked down at Aria, warning her in a voice completely devoid of warmth.

- This is for the sake of protecting the kingdom. The idea that the minority must be sacrificed for the greater good can also be called the majority’s violence against the minority.

Even though she was still young, she was well aware of the weight of the path she had chosen and the amount of blood that would flow beneath her feet.

- However, despite knowing everything, avoiding sacrificing anything with the excuse of caring for the few is just violence.

- I don’t care if you wish to call it the resurrection of Heralhazard; I will carry the stigma of being called the villain who killed her own kin.

She declared boldly, her hand stretched out.

- I’m heading to Graypond; my brother is no longer fit to sit on the throne.

Thunder like roars echoed as the students, truly determined to bring about change in the kingdom, steeled themselves.

Had Aria missed Eleanor there, with her resourcefulness, Eleanor would have probably gathered an army several times larger.

It was Aria who suppressed her in the early stages.

“It’s difficult.”

Aria still remembered the heavy thrum Eleanor’s heart transmitted through the sword she held.

With her heart pierced through, Eleanor Luden Griffin gazed up at her while drenched in blood.

- *Huh.*Eleanor’s bright eyes gradually turned dull.

- Aria Rias... you have blocked my path.

Living solely as royalty, Eleanor finally lowered her head and spoke an honest word at the very end.

- *Thank you.*As Aria wiped her face, she lowered her head. And just like the present, the thought that she had heard Eleanor’s true feelings kept her awake back then as well.

“Sigh.”

Why did Eleanor say that?

Aria was still unable to grasp it.

When she had asked Deus Verdi about this, he simply brushed her off, saying that she didn’t need to know.

Wait a minute.

“Sssp, did I ask Professor about this in the first cycle?”

Had she even asked the Professor from the second cycle yet?

Aria began to feel confused.

Thinking she should have asked him while he was still around, her thoughts naturally steered to Deus.

The Professor in the first cycle was always impatient.

Lying in his bed, he would send her all over the continent like a chess piece.

As a result, it gave rise to some sort of obsession, believing that everything would be possible if the Professor were there.

In the end, Aria was broken by the sight of Deus, mixed with failure and disappointment.

So, at the start of the second cycle, she exhibited an almost distorted obsession.

However, the Professor from the second cycle seemed like a completely different person. In the end, as various events were resolved, Deus granted Aria her freedom.

From the past that had stuck to her like glue and the fate of having to save the continent in the future.

Complete freedom.

Aria Rias was now living as an ordinary girl.

The ordinary life she had desperately longed for.

But, she began to feel the emptiness contained within it.

Ironically, human greed knew no bounds; and even while living the ordinary life she had long desired, Aria still wanted something else.

However, she felt no shame about it.

Nor did she criticize herself for being too greedy.

After all, this desire had existed since her days as a hero, not something that arose after she attained freedom.

Feeling proud of her unchanging emotions, Aria leaped up from her seat.

She opened the door and stepped outside.

She knew it was pretty late, and that the dormitory supervisor was on her patrols, but avoiding that was no trouble for Aria.

The place Aria Rias arrived at, even going as far as to use her footwork, was, of course...

Kruk! Kruk!

Bang!

“Eleanor!”

Eleanor Luden Griffin’s room.

“Oh my!”

Eleanor was startled when she saw Aria, who had opened the door and come in. She was sure she had locked it, but Aria had cleanly broken the doorknob to get inside.

“...What are you doing?”

Taking a seat, Aria looked at Eleanor, who was drawing, and found it strange.

It was already late, and seeing her doing this instead of sleeping made Aria realize that Eleanor was also caught in some deep contemplation.

“Uh, you’re drawing, aren’t you? You usually do this when your head’s in a bit of a mess.”

Eleanor was drawing a man Aria had never seen before. He didn’t look like he was from the Griffin Kingdom, but for some reason, Aria felt a strange flutter in her heart as she looked at him.

“Could it be...?”

As Aria asked cautiously, Eleanor, annoyed at having her treasure discovered, replied curtly.

“It’s Kim Shinwoo. Can’t you see it?”

“...This is really Professor.”

Seeing Aria’s jaw drop, unable to tear her eyes from the drawing, Eleanor immediately blocked it with her body.

“Only I can look at it!”

While she had shared drawings of Deus before, she was yet to share her sketches of Kim Shinwoo with anyone.

This was a treasure box that Eleanor would never show anyone.

“Let me see it as well!”

“No! What are you even doing by coming here all of a sudden?”

And so, the two began their tussle a little past midnight. In the end, summoning all her might, Eleanor emerged victorious.

“I’ll scream and summon the dorm supervisor!”

Although it included a somewhat ambiguous threat, in any case, Eleanor managed to turn the drawing towards the wall, and the storm passed.

The two then stared at each other.

“Why did you come here?”

When Eleanor asked bluntly, Aria shouted.

“You! If Professor asked you to, could you kiss me?!”

“...”

Silence.

Staring at Aria with her mouth wide open, Eleanor felt as though the world had frozen for a few seconds before she screamed.

“What nonsense!”

Eleanor displayed a rare, harsh outburst. But if she didn’t do so, there was no other way to express her current feelings.

“I’d rather... I’d rather lick Deus’ shoes, you crazy woman! Why would I... with you... ugh! Ew!”

Covering her mouth and pretending to gag, Eleanor turned away while Aria declared boldly.

“I could do it!”

“Wow...”

“I could! Though, honestly speaking, I’d rather run around the academy completely naked than kiss you! But if Professor asked me, I could do it!”

“...”

“Loser! You could never do it, right? I win!”

“S-stop saying weird things! In the first place, Deus would never ask for something like that!”

“Ha! You’re chickening out because you know you can’t do it! Are you really going to keep challenging me with that resolve?”

Looking smug, Aria crossed her arms confidently.

Seeing this, Eleanor’s face turned bright red as she yelled.

“I could do it! I’d do anything if Deus wished for it!”

“Well, Professor would never even ask for something like that.”

“Why you... You’re really pushing it!”

Eleanor began to feel exhausted, wondering what on earth Aria was up to by showing up so suddenly. Aria made a bold declaration.

“Just like before, it’s always going to be me who stands in the way of your ambitions!”

“...Just like before?”

Not having a complete understanding, Eleanor furrowed her brow, but Aria continued.

“In the end, you’ll lose to me, the one who’s transcended time to find him! And when I spend my first night with Professor, you can listen in from the door, loser!”

“Fu... fufufu.”

Eleanor lowered her head.

Looking at Aria, who had suddenly shown up and started to provoke her, Eleanor wriggled her fingers.

“Come here, you bitch...!”

And so the two began round two. They tussled throughout the night.

It got a bit intense, with fists clenching tight occasionally, but at some point...

They collapsed on the floor in exhaustion, bathed in the rising sunlight coming through the window.

“Ah, we stayed up all night.”

“Damn, I didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

Despite their grumbling, a strange sense of satisfaction lingered on their faces.

As they lay there, breathing heavily and staring blankly at the ceiling, Aria broke the silence.

“Hey, if I say what if...”

“Could you just not start talking?”

“You start a rebellion.”

“Are you insane?”

Could you even say something like this in front of a princess of all people? It wasn’t a joke; she’d be dragged to the execution grounds for just bringing it up.

However, considering that she’d even wrestled with a princess like this was already a capital offense.

“But unlike now, let’s say your brother is someone you believe is no longer fit to sit on the throne.”

“...Is it like he is somehow possessed by an evil spirit or something?”

Hearing Eleanor mumble under her breath, Aria turned her head in surprise. But she then remembered that Deus and Orpheus had once explained the dark secrets entwined with the royal family to Eleanor.

“Exactly. So you start a rebellion, but you end up being suppressed by me.”

“Me? By you? Don’t make me laugh.”

Eleanor snorted, but she didn’t dismiss Aria’s story entirely.

She had noticed that Aria and Deus had a unique relationship.

There were times when they’d talk about things she didn’t understand.

Eleanor assumed that perhaps Aria was now talking about one of those things.

“You were totally beaten by me, you know.”

Though it had been a tough experience.

But was there anyone who knew about that now?

“Anyway, if you were on the verge of death in that situation... what do you think your last words would be?”

Aria didn’t really expect an answer. Or rather, she was aware that Eleanor, in this cycle, wouldn’t answer the same way she did in the first.

It was just a personal whim—That was the only way to explain that question.

“What an annoying start to the morning.”

Eleanor sighed, frustrated, but she had already arrived at the answer.

“What would I say? I’d probably be pissed about having lost to you. I’d be really mad...”

And then...

“I’d end up saying thank you.”

“...”

“If I were to rebel, it would mean the kingdom was in a truly dire state. As a princess, I’d have rebelled out of duty, but as a woman named Eleanor... no matter how much I despised him, I wouldn’t have wanted to kill my own brother.”

She would have staged a rebellion because she was a princess.

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And because she was Eleanor, she would have expressed her gratitude.

“I see. That makes sense.”

Though it was a bit complicated, Aria smiled, feeling unexpectedly relieved.

“This time, I’ll help you walk your own path as yourself.”

“R-Really? You’ll help me get closer to Deus?”

Startled, Eleanor whipped her head around to look at Aria. Aria gave her best friend a mischievous smile.

“But in return, you have to help me as well. So that Professor and I can be together.”

“...What are you even saying?”

“Idiot, do you think that we, as students, really stand a chance against all the other women interested in him?”

“Well, I’m a princess, so maybe I could find a way to keep him for myself?”

Old habits die hard.

Aria sighed and shook her head.

“Do you really think that would break Professor’s resolve?”

“...No.”

Right after saying it, Eleanor also realized that her plan would be the quickest way to lose Deus.

“For now, let’s try to seduce Professor together. Surprisingly, Professor is weak against people who are genuinely devoted to him.”

She remembered how he had gotten married to Erica Bright, who was always by his side in the first cycle.

“Hmm, do you think that’ll work?”

“Geez, do you really plan to stand by and watch? Do you want to watch Findenai pounce on Professor? Are you just going to just stand there while Professor Erica enjoys her first night of marriage?”

“...No.”

“Right? I don’t want that either. I really don’t. I might as well destroy a world like that.”

“I’d straight up raise a rebellion.”

This girl really liked the idea of rebellion—Aria thought to herself.

“Anyway, let’s conquer Professor together. Unlike the others, we’re young and fresh. In 10 or 20 years, we’ll be the winners in the end.”

“That... is true.”

Even if Deus reached his forties, they would still be in their twenties.

“We’re only forming a temporary alliance for each other’s goals.”

“...”

As Eleanor considered the offer in silence, Aria quietly extended her hand.

Lying side by side, Eleanor finally sighed and accepted it.

“It’s just a temporary alliance that will only last until right before we reach the bed.”

Saying so, Eleanor turned her gaze back to the ceiling. For some reason, she didn’t feel like getting up.

“Hey.”

Perhaps that was why Eleanor softly called out to Aria again.

“What?”

Aria replied sharply.

“He’d be on his way back, right?”

Aria hesitated to respond to her heavy question.

She knew very well that the chances of returning alive after fighting with the god of thunder, Raizel, were extremely slim.

In the first place, she couldn’t guarantee survival for anyone from this continent.

But,

“Of course.”

Aria firmly dismissed all such possibilities and answered Eleanor.

“That’s right.”

Eleanor closed her eyes as she nodded.

After a little while, the two fell asleep, their breaths calm and quiet.