Chapter 118: Kina’s Life

Kina always held firm to herself. She even deliberately indoctrinated herself, that no matter how difficult the problems that befell her, no matter how low she might stand eventually, she would keep enduring and would never give up, not even a little.

All this time, Kina had always done exactly that, and the result?

She’d survived until today. She’d survived an assassination attempt, survived the Slums, survived Central, and finally returned to the elite region.

Even though she hadn’t done all of that alone, since thanks to certain people who had become important figures to Kina, in the end, some things still happened because Kina herself had worked hard for them.

Now, here Kina was.

Her face pale and slightly flushed from embarrassment as she opened the locker where her books were kept.

“Ugh…!”

As the locker opened, just as it always happened lately, Kina found a number of letters falling out endlessly. There were so many of them it made Kina close her eyes and step back a few paces.

‘What exactly are they even doing?’

That thought had haunted her countless times.

Fine, Kina understood that she indeed had an above-average appearance, and because of that, she was very well liked and even pursued by many students.

But, the problem was, Kina had rejected every single long line of people who tried to test their luck and confess their feelings.

‘After all that, they still don’t give up and keep sending letters and gifts.’

Kina could endure the most terrifying problems. But this particular problem was different, it stemmed from the discomfort she felt every time students treated her so well that Kina started feeling uncomfortable about rejecting them.

Of course, Kina had never once intended to accept a single one of them, even if they might come back promising an incredibly valuable gift.

‘My heart is only for Master, who are they to try and steal it? I won’t fall in love without a clear reason.’

Once Kina fell in love, that figure had to be genuinely worthy, enough that she wouldn’t turn away, not even a little.

With a small sigh, Kina turned slightly, her face sour. She could feel many stares directed at her, each one a student exceptionally confident in their own appearance.

But, in front of Kina, they all suddenly looked nervous and averted their gaze when Kina looked their way, then slowly walked off.

“Ugh… those stalkers…!”

If they ever tried to cross the line even once, Kina would surely do something about it. But, what surprised Kina was how well those students maintained their boundaries, as though they knew exactly how far they should go.

Or maybe, it was just the patience they poured into trying to win Kina’s heart.

‘They don’t even care that I’m feuding with Mivelo. Are they really that infatuated?’

Kina nearly clicked her tongue and simply let out a small sigh.

A small touch brushed her shoulder, the touch light and gentle, yet Kina reacted with extreme sensitivity, as though something terrifying had just touched her.

“Wah—!”

She turned around, stepping back with a pale face. But, the figure she saw in front of her instead made Kina’s ragged breathing look pitiful.

“W-why did you come up on me like that!?”

“Oh… sorry.”

Surprisingly, at the Elite Academy, Kina could make a friend more easily than in Central.

Not just love pursuers, but a friend who was genuinely kind.

“I was genuinely scared, just in case it was Dundel.”

The girl in front of Kina, Daisy, just laughed, amused, understanding exactly what Kina had been dreading lately.

“So what if it was? He’s handsome, right? Just date him and he’ll stop. Besides, aren’t you tired of always having a stalker like that too?”

“Well… you’re right, but I don’t want to.”

How could she possibly date someone she didn’t like?

Or, should she date Dundel just to use the boy, so no one else would approach her anymore?

‘…That sounds cruel and wrong.’

Kina wouldn’t do something like that.

“Heee~ do you actually have someone you like?”

Hearing that, Kina fell silent. She was about to nod her head and be honest about her feelings, but she saw Daisy frozen in place, staring behind Kina.

“….?”

What did Daisy see that made her freeze like that, breaking into cold sweat?

For a moment, Kina stayed silent, but then she too froze as Daisy raised her hand and started pointing.

“Kina… t-t-t-t-that… th-that’s Du-du-dun-Dundel…!?”

“E-eh?”

There was one among the students pursuing Kina’s love, one of the most troublesome students, who always made Kina struggle whenever he appeared.

And, just hearing that man’s name mentioned alongside his presence was enough to make Kina unable to move at all.

Her face went pale, her body stiff as a robot as she intended to turn around. But, before that, a large, firm-feeling hand touched her shoulder.

‘Ah, this is over.’

Kina lowered her head, her face flushing red, already able to guess what would happen next.

And, following her thought, Kina heard a loud shout behind her.

“Kina! Please! Please! Please date me! I’m Dundel Cronia, the heir to the great Cronia family would surely suit you perfectly! I swear, by the gods and the still-living legends, that I’m being honest with my feelings, I’m even willing to give everything. My life, my soul, everything about me can be yours. I want to be the sole one to fill your heart, the sole sun that will light up your silent nights, the sole lullaby that will carry you into a beautiful dreamland, and… the sole man who will become the father of your children.”

‘UGH… UGH… UGHHHHH….!’

Kina felt her entire body trembling with fear, every hair on her body standing on end, while her face looked as though she were crumbling from overwhelming embarrassment.

That was it, Dundel’s love confession assault. Something capable enough of making even a proud, arrogant girl like Kina feel genuinely humiliated.

How could someone say something this embarrassing without flinching at all?

In fact, Dundel always seemed to have a new line ready every single time he came to declare his feelings.

And, as Kina glanced back slightly, her eyes slightly blurry from feeling like crying, her face only grew paler.

‘W-what’s with those clothes?’

Dundel, a son from one of the current great families, had knelt there, his face shining with determination, his hair combed so neatly it reminded Kina of how a mother would comb her son’s hair.

Then, the most important thing was that Dundel was wearing extremely revealing clothing. The student openly exposed his chest, wearing a corset to make his waist look slim.

As Kina stared at that strange appearance, wondering what it meant, Daisy leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

“Ah, I heard Dundel actually read a book at the library. It’s a book about how to confess love to a girl you like. Then, after that, Dundel suddenly stood up shouting, ‘Wahaha! So that’s how it is, Kina must like the sexy type of man!’ So, that’s how it is.”

Kina shuddered again.

“What kind of nonsense is that!?” She whispered back at Daisy.

Meanwhile, around them, many students began gathering to watch the situation. They didn’t even look surprised at all, simply lifting their phones to record it as though it were an interesting event.

“This is happening again, and I don’t think I can underestimate how strong Dundel’s determination is to win Kina’s heart anymore.”

“Come on, we can’t really blame Dundel for this. It’s just, Kina really is like that… who wouldn’t like her? She’s so beautiful.”

“Heheh, if I were a man, I’d pursue Kina too. I feel like I’d want to kiss her entire body for the rest of my life.”

“Agreed! She really is beautiful.”

And such were the rumors about Kina, who was still a newcomer at the Elite Academy.

Kina wasn’t treated badly, even though she had issues, she still came from the great Mivelo family, and above all else, had the backing of Zoldia.

So, except for incidents like this, one could say Kina’s life wasn’t bad at all, in fact, her current life was going quite smoothly without any real obstacles.

She would soon receive her next skill book that would give her more variety, the Zoldia family was also said to have started producing weapons specially crafted for Kina, and lastly, it wouldn’t be long now before Kina would head directly into the battlefield to boost her progress, which had stalled for so long.

Right, there was nothing wrong with Kina’s life, but…

‘This is excessive… why can they all say something this terrifying?’

Kina still couldn’t get used to people like Dundel and felt genuinely horrified by how shameless he was.

Along with that, as Kina was confused about what to do, she suddenly flinched hearing the sound of footsteps approaching so quickly.

“Damn Dundel! How dare you beat me to it!? Do you want to die, huh!?”

“Stop! You stop too! Dundel! Trafal! Both of you stop, bastards! Only I am worthy of that beautiful frozen flower!”

“Huh!? What’s wrong with you two! I come from a great family, do you both want to die!?”

“Shut up! I don’t care about your status! I’ll regret it forever if I don’t have Kina!”

“Same here!”

Then, another terrifying thing quickly happened.

Besides Dundel, there were two other male students just as crazy.

Kina just stood there with an expression difficult to comprehend, while the three students?

“Come on, let’s fight, damn it! Let’s prove who’s more worthy!”

“Fuh! Good idea! Let’s fight to the death!”

“Haha! I’ll show you that only I am capable of standing beside that beautiful frozen flower!”

Apparently, this wasn’t a fight that happened only once, but had already happened several times since Kina arrived.

“Kina, let’s go.”

Amid all that, Daisy whispered, taking advantage of the chaos and pulling Kina to flee.

Right!

Whatever happened, Kina had to flee.

‘Damn you lunatics! I will never fall in love with any of you.’

Kina clenched her fist, quietly slipping away, then fled with a face genuinely burning with embarrassment.