(EP-19.1) How A Sheep Lives #4

019 – How A Sheep Lives In A Lion's Den #4

Elga Von Lioness was a proud woman.

Thanks to that, she felt a deep sense of inferiority and jealousy towards Aira. It was also Elga who unintentionally played a big role in Aira's death.

In other words, Elga was one of the keys to a bad ending.

If there was such a key, I needed to get rid of it.

And if that was not possible, then I must have it completely under control.

“Hey, Theo, why did you not tell me? Is this what I get for working my ass off fighting the Barbarians and doing all the dirty work?”

“That was never my intention. It hasn't been confirmed yet, so I decided to keep it on the low for now."

“Don’t make excuses!”

Elga's cry was like a lion's roar. I flinched from the sheer volume and even wanted to cover my ears.

You might wonder if someone would come to the training ground upon hearing such a scream. However, a soundproof barrier was installed here, so no one could really hear her.

To exaggerate.

Even if I screamed as I got brutalized by Elga, no one would arrive to help.

“Don’t you dare make excuses, Theo Gospel. Your mouth always spouts shit like that! You think I don't know your plan? You're trying to escape!”

"Pardon?"

"When Aira enters the academy, I'm sure you'll follow her under the pretext of an aide!"

Yup. That was my aim in the first place.

But Elga seemed to have understood it this way:

“Why are you trying to run away from me like that? Don’t you understand that my teasing was simply… to educate you?”

Did you just admit that you were harassing me? Nevertheless, that was not why I was going to the Academy, so I shook my head.

“It’s not like that.”

"Really?"

“As a matter of fact, I want Elga-nim to enter the Academy with me!”

To be honest, I prefered to have Elga by my side.

Of course, I was not planning to keep her with me because of her beauty. Rather, as mentioned earlier, she was a dangerous factor that must be monitored at all times.

However, Elga had understood my words differently. Her angry red face started flushing. She was stunned.

“I, why would I go to the Academy? How funny, like really. Ha, truly ridiculous!"

“Do you not want to go?”

“Then tell me, Theo Gospel, what would I learn from that hellacious Academy?”

Elga's question was a reasonable one.

The Academy was a place for education.

In a way, Elga was already an ‘educated' person.

Of course, personally, I would rather send her to a place like a Seodang (village school) to get whipped. However, I might have my head ripped off due to karma if I actually said it.

So I decided not to talk about that.

Instead, I chose to calmly explain why Elga should enter the Academy.

“Elga-nim is already perfect in her own way. Nevertheless, your knowledge of magic is not really that great.”

“You… How dare you?”

"But if you go there, you'll be able to improve your skills against the magic that you're vulnerable to. We might even be able to acquire items that could nullify magic."

“Magic nullification… I indeed heard there's such a thing.”

“And, you could even learn how to handle your magic halberd better.”

“……”

Elga shut her mouth. When caught off guard, it was better to keep quiet rather than stutter.

After all, Elga had a magic complex because of Aira.

Furthermore, in the novel, Elga was unable to completely wield her Holy Weapon, the Halberd ‘Crusher', and could only use it as a sturdy weapon.

You heard that right.

Elga was a Champion chosen by a Holy Weapon.

Well, to be precise, it would be more accurate to use the word "inherited" instead of "chosen."

Anyway.

“If you go to Ark that's run by the church, you will be able to further improve your skills as a Champion by listening to advice on the Holy Weapons.”

"So noisy. I don't have to do that. It's my family's treasure, I can handle it perfectly!"

“Then, you're not going to the Academy?”

"That-."

Elga choked on her own words again.

At this point, it would be foolish to still not understand Elga's character.

She wanted to go with us, but she was too proud and couldn't forgive herself if she willingly accepted the offer.

That was why Elga had to be given a reason that she would be satisfied with, in order to pretend that she had “won” the argument.

However, despite hearing all the advantages of entering the Academy, Elga still didn't budge. It seemed that her pride was higher than I thought.

Should I change my plan?

To be honest, I didn't want to use this.

Stomp.

I took a step towards Elga. It could be said that I went beyond the 1m gap between us and entered her range.

At this distance, Elga could easily rip my neck off with her bare hands if she reached out. However, it was her who was on the back foot.

"What? Why are you suddenly coming closer? Go away!"

Elga slowly took a step back. Meanwhile, I continued to approach her like this.

“Elga-nim, I wish for you to be with me.”

"… Me?… With you? What are you talking about all of a sudden? You idiot-.”

I gently grasped Elga's fingertips. It was fairly warm and soft for someone who fought on the battlefield.

“You still don’t understand what I mean?”

“What, what is it? You mean-. I guess it means that you like me…?”

“…….”

“It's not Aira, but me…?”

Instead of answering, I looked at Elga with big puppy eyes.

Elga looked into my eyes before avoiding them.

"… Well, it would be weird not to like the perfect me. After all, I have kissed you a few times and it's unavoidable that you fell in love with me. This is hard….”

Then, as she ran her fingers through her bangs, she started to say things that I could not have thought of.

“However, I am the daughter of the great Lioness Family. You who came from slavery, I cannot accept your feelings. I'm sorry…"

… Huh?

Her response was different from what I predicted.

“… Well, actually, I was kind of expecting this. I suppose, that's simply how you feel about me, hmm-. This is troublesome. It's not Aira…. But what should I do?”

“…….”

“Ya, of course I understand, but I can’t accept your heart.”

Wait, no, did I just get rejected?

Was this real?

This was not part of the plan. I couldn't believe I got dumped. I never thought I'd get rejected by Elga Von Lioness.

In the first place, it was a confession for the sake of my "scheme" rather than my "heart". But honestly, I never imagined that Elga would say ‘no’.

I always thought Elga liked me. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have kissed or pretended to bully me.

I thought she was a so-called Tsundere…

How could she reject me!?

While I was lost in my thoughts, Elga began hammering a nail into my heart.

“How do I put it? You are not my type. I'm a little tall so I want to date a guy who is taller than me. You're not that short either, but you get the idea."

Pusch, pusch-

The nail kept going deeper in my heart.

“Should I say that I like a man I can rely on…? No, I don't know why I'm telling you my ideal type. Eum, just give up…”

Elga refused the confession naturally.

After all, even though she was a tomboy with a fiery personality, she was still a beautiful noble lady.

In her life, she should have received many confessions and rejected them countless times.

It was just that, I never thought I'd be one of them!

Argh!

This was not good at all.

It was embarrassing…

I really wanted to hide in a hole. What should I do? Maybe saying I was just joking? But it wasn’t even April Fool's…

No, that would be way too low.

Come on, think brain, think—

As I was desperately looking for a solution, Elga spoke to me as if she was looking at a pitiful beggar.

“Look at this guy who didn't even flinch with a blade on his neck. You're so silent. It seems that your love is really deep… I'm really sorry about this. Hmm….”

“… So, does that mean Elga-nim kissed a man she didn’t like?”

After all, Elga would always kiss me.

Even if she was drunk and vomiting while spouting a bunch of nonsense, wouldn’t it be impossible to kiss a guy she didn't like?

Hearing my question, Elga scratched her head.

"That-. Isn't a kiss just a form of greeting? Don’t you know that’s common knowledge for young children…? Yes, it's ‘common sense'! Is it because you're a slave that you didn't know?”

What kind of common sense was that!?