I Became A Third-Rate Villain In The Hero Academy

Chapter 103: Lies (6)

In a secluded room, roughly 10 square meters, surrounded by stone walls, Theo and Piel were the only occupants.

Theo, his eyes wide, stared at Piel and tried to speak.

"What..."

But his words stopped.

Squeak─

Piel had seized Theo's arm tightly.

"Uh, ugh."

A groan slipped out from Theo due to the sudden pain.

Piel continued to grip his arm, forcing him into a corner.

Under her firm hold, Theo stumbled backward.

Theo grimaced and protested.

"······Let go. Piel. It hurts."

"······No."

However, Piel refused to release Theo's arm.

No, she squeezed even harder, as if it were something precious that she had longed to possess.

Kooong─!

Theo's back collided with the stone wall in the corner.

"Ugh."

With a faint groan, Theo glanced down at Piel.

······It's definitely Piel. A girl with unimaginable strength.

"What are you trying to do, Piel? I was just trying to help you."

"Didn't I warn you? ······Don’t touch me."

Piel concluded, her breath heavy.

"Theo started it first······ wasn't it you?"

"······What do you mean? I don't understand."

"Even though I warned you not to touch me. You touched me, didn't you?"

With that, Piel raised her gaze to meet Theo's, a sharp smile on her face.

The smile eerily resembled the ones Theo would occasionally flash.

For a moment, the small room fell silent.

Neither Theo nor Piel uttered a word.

Theo locked his gaze with Piel's emerald-colored eyes, and Piel returned his stare, peering into Theo's ruby-like eyes.

The occasional sound of swallowing was the only noise in the room.

The silence was eventually broken by Theo.

"You're acting no different from a beast right now, Piel."

Theo looked at Piel, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

His gaze was much like the one Piel usually cast on him.

After murmuring those harsh words, Theo's thoughts began to race.

Firstly, it was clear that Piel was experiencing what they call [Heat].

Her usual aggressive tendencies are stronger than usual.

He wasn't sure, having never experienced it before, but there was a high chance that she was unable to think properly.

He needed to use [Cure] on Piel immediately.

However, for someone like him, inexperienced with magic, the most efficient way to use [Cure] was to grab the target's shoulder.

But Piel, in her current state, probably wouldn't sit still for that.

He needed to wait for the right timing.

As he had felt at the first branching point, Piel was the type of woman who would grip tighter if you attempted to free yourself.

He needed to catch her off guard and do it then.

"Hehe."

Piel, her eyes half-closed, let out a bitter laugh.

It was a somewhat eerie smile that he had never seen in the original game.

The sweat that had been continuously streaming down her face stopped.

Theo, who had been keeping his hand on Piel's shoulder, calmly looked at her and removed his hand.

"·····You seem to be okay now."

Theo muttered briefly and looked away.

However, Piel saw it clearly - the faint blush on his cheeks.

He was just as embarrassed as she was.

She was on his mind, just as he was on hers.

Piel made a decision.

To ask him now.

"·····I have something to say."

Piel said to Theo, who was avoiding her gaze.

"·····What is it."

"Do you remember what you asked earlier? What I think of you."

"·····Yeah."

Theo answered, stealing a quick glance at Piel.

There was something sad in Theo's eyes.

'·····I've pledged hundreds of times till now. Before he loses his soul to a demon and faces a terrible fate as a public enemy of the entire continent, I have to end him with my own hands. ······I have to say it.'

Piel thought this, but seeing Theo's eyes, she couldn't easily open her mouth.

She was afraid.

Afraid because she might have to kill this man with her own hands.

Piel looked at him, sadness in her eyes.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Then, Piel spoke.

"·····Answer me honestly."

"·····About what."

Gulp.

Piel swallowed, moistening her dry lips.

"Did you····· really make a pact with the Great Demon?"

After saying so, Piel tightly closed her eyes.

She found it hard to keep her eyes open.

She wished that this moment wasn't real.

‘·····Yet, I asked.’

She had made the pledge dozens, hundreds of times.

Before he took up a larger space in her heart, she had to cut him off.

And just a while ago, he had been sure that she was under the influence of some unknown debuff magic.

He already had a place in her heart.

However... she couldn't simply ignore the horrifying [Contractor of a Great Demon].

The contractor was bound to be caught in some way.

If Theo kept his true identity hidden, his genius would inevitably spread throughout the academy and eventually, across the entire continent.

"...."

Piel stared at Theo with her tear-filled, glimmering green eyes.

...This might be her last chance to see him as a human being.

No one understood the danger of the contractor as well as she did.

"No."

However, Theo's words differed from what she expected.

Piel, her expression instantly hardening, spoke with a tinge of anger.

"...What?"

Theo asked, furrowing his brows.

"I thought you might say something like that. I'm not a [Contractor of a Great Demon], Piel."