Little Tyrant Doesn’t Want to Meet with a Bad End

Looking at the notifications swiftly popping up in the System, Roel took a sweeping gaze at his surroundings and saw that quite a few people in the crowd had gone green too.

Of course, the largest sum was still from Paul, but there were still small bits of Affection Points trickling in from all around too. It looked like there were quite a few righteous people in the world after all.

With such thoughts in mind, Roel’s mood grew a little better. He turned over to Paul with a smile and said.

“It’s nothing much. I just can’t stand it when others parading their strength around to oppress those weaker than them.”

“Big brother Roel…”

“I should be younger than you though,” said Roel as he reached out and helped Paul back up to his feet.

Paul raised his head to look at Roel with eyes filled with gratitude, but he immediately flinched when he saw the sight behind Roel. At the same time, a familiar voice sounded.

“Indeed, I can’t stand such stuff too. It’s just that you made far too big of a commotion here.”

“Hm?”

A doting sigh echoed behind Roel. Surprised by the voice, he instinctively turned his head around, only to see a golden silhouette walking through the parted crowd.

Nora Xeclyde was slowly heading his way under the accompaniment of the Theocracy’s nobles, but unlike his earlier encounter with Charlotte on the streets, he was much more composed this time around.

Nora was bound to make an entrance here after the huge ruckus he had caused by releasing the nine-headed serpent. Technically speaking, Roel was considered to be under her jurisdiction since he was a noble of the Theocracy too.

As Nora was enrolling into the academy this year, the Xeclydes generously offered to subsidize the tuition fee of all suitably aged young nobles of the Theocracy so that they could enroll into the Saint Freya Academy too, resulting in a far larger intake of freshmen this year. In exchange, these nobles were obliged to protect Nora, though, frankly speaking, it was unlikely that she would ever require their protection.

As the successor of the Ascart House, Roel’s standing in the Saint Mesit Theocracy was fairly high. On top of that, there were rumors going around that Nora was on good terms with Roel, which made him somewhat the de facto second-in-charge of the Theocracy’s young nobles too. So, in some sense, it could be said that his actions represented their group.

The discussions amidst the crowd grew even more fervent with Nora’s arrival. Her beautiful and saintly appearance drew attention, and her graceful and magnanimous disposition compelled subservience.

Those who were unaware of her identity hurriedly asked the students around who she was. At the same time, those students who were a little further away on the grass field began making their way over in this direction, drawn by the earlier ruckus caused by the nine-headed serpent.

Nora did a quick scan of the crowd, and she could immediately spot quite a few young women looking at Roel with infatuated eyes. Roel’s act of justice had caught many people’s attention, especially some of the more empathetic female students who were strongly opposed to bullying.

Tsk. I knew that this would happen.

Nora snorted in her mind, but the smile on her face was still as elegant as ever. Before everyone’s eyes, she walked straight up to Roel, pulled on his tie intimately, and cupped her other hand on his chin.

“Ah? N-Nora?”

“It’s one thing for you not to travel along with me, but you failed to look for me right after arriving here either. That warrants a punishment, doesn’t it?”

The slightly peevish yet adorable voice left Roel stupefied. Many others around him, including Paul, felt their minds stall to a halt too.

Wait a moment, why does this turn of events look so awfully familiar?

After Paul finally recovered from the powerful impact of Nora’s charms, he suddenly thought about their encounter with Charlotte earlier, and his expression turned a little odd. However, when he turned to look at Roel once more, he suddenly felt that there was nothing wrong at all with how things were.

Indeed. Only such a woman could be worthy of someone as righteous and powerful as big brother Roel! What an incredible man he is!

Paul felt yet another wave of gratitude for Roel as he thought about the earlier incidents. Meanwhile, Nora discreetly scanned the crowd to assess the effectiveness of her deterrence, and it appeared to be a resounding success. Many of those female students revealed hesitant looks, especially after learning of Nora’s identity.

There weren’t many people in the world who wouldn’t dare vie with the future empress of the Saint Mesit Theocracy for her man, if they could even compete with her in the first place. She was top-notch in terms of appearance, talent, and standing, such that it was hard for one not to feel inferior in her presence.

Of course, Nora knew that she couldn’t possibly deter everyone so easily. There were bound to be a few who would be unwilling to give up and attempt to persist in their efforts to get close to Roel. Having tasted just how sweet Roel was, she knew better than to underestimate her opponents’ tenacity. For the time being, she would filter off those who were still staring at her, had dazed expressions on their faces, or were blushing furiously.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to look for you but… well, I met a new friend.”

“Hm? A new friend…”

Upon hearing Roel’s explanation, Nora turned her sapphire eyes to the young man currently standing behind Roel. All of a sudden, she recalled how Roel had shot a glance at her when Paul was being picked on by the two Austine nobles earlier.

“Say, were you just making a move on my behalf earlier?”

“… You can say so.”

“Is that so?”

The answer made Nora’s eyes curl in delight as she finally retracted her hand.

“Indeed, I can’t stand the supremacist culture in the Austine Empire, and I’m delighted that you made a move on my behalf. However, as I have said earlier, you went overboard with that nine-headed serpent. You might be able to pass it off as an accident, but at the same time, you’d inevitably incur her notice.”

“…”

Nora’s words brought a helpless smile to Roel’s face. She casually shot a glance at the tower where Lilian had appeared earlier with a solemn look on her face.

“It’s still a little too early to get into a clash with her. At the very least, until I reach Origin Level 3, I hope that you’ll avoid getting into any direct confrontation with her.”

“… I realized that I’ve underestimated her,” sighed Roel in self-reproach.

He realized that he had gotten a little complacent after all of the dangerous situations he had been through. He thought that he should be one of the strongest in his age group by now, but the earlier encounter with Lilian made him understand what it meant by ‘there’s always a taller mountain out there’, as well as the huge gap that stood between an Origin Level 4 transcendent and an Origin Level 3 transcendent.

Looking at the downcast black-haired young man, Nora suddenly felt that she should give him some encouragement. After a brief moment of contemplation, her lips crept upward as an idea came to mind.

“You need not dwell too much on it. No matter what, it’s indeed more appropriate for you to make a move as compared to me. I believe that it’s only right to reward a loyal subordinate who fought on behalf of his liege, don’t you agree?”

“Ah? A reward? This…”

I don’t really need a reward though. I’m just doing this to ensure that my death flags are thoroughly plucked out.

Before Roel could even ask what the reward was, Nora suddenly leaned in. Right before everyone’s eyes, an angel’s kiss was planted on his cheek.