Chapter 315: The Forced Apology

“That guy who was pestering you is going to come apologize.”

“What?! Really? Drembi, that guy?!”

Hailga dropped her disgusted expression and opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“I thought he was the type who would never reflect even if he died… Unexpected…?”

“He didn’t reflect at all. That’s why I have to accompany you. I need to verify that he gives a proper apology.”

I immediately corrected Hailga’s misconception.

Because the Confession Villain would never make a sincere apology.

If I had expected that and heard a lousy apology, it wouldn’t soothe Hailga’s heart but rather ignite her anger.

And if the two emotionally charged people started arguing, an unforeseen incident could occur.

“I figured as much… Ah! So you, Young Lord, used your power to make Drembi apologize to me?”

Hailga nodded with a cynical expression as if she understood, then suddenly looked at me with an admiring expression.

As she guessed, I had pressured him into a situation where he had no choice but to apologize.

But by now, readers must also be anticipating what I would say.

“Let me say this in advance to avoid any misunderstanding. I didn’t do it for you or your father. It’s simply because he crossed a line with me. As punishment, I wanted to trample his pride and humiliate him. I just made him bow his head to the father and daughter he had looked down on and ignored.”

“When you spoke to Her Imperial Highness, you seemed calm and sincere, but why are you being so cold again?”

“Who exactly is being cold?! I always speak with sincerity, and what I just said is no different.”

“Rei seems to really like it when you act all cold, but I’m not, so I don’t need that kind of service.”

Without any teasing intent, her outright refusal felt similar to Reysir’s yet different, and it was annoying.

Was it because they were childhood friends?

I was so dumbfounded that I was speechless with my mouth hanging open, and then the Protagonist of Another Novel stepped in to prove that he was the originator of being annoying.

“Could it be that Karbaldr becomes a person when using polite speech and becomes a cat when using the nya speech style?”

“What nonsense are you suddenly barging in and spouting?! What I’m using is clearly a formal speech style called ‘Haera-che.’ Stop making up strange words I’ve never heard of, and stop likening me to a cat!”

“But the symbol of House Austri is a cat, isn’t it?”

“That’s true, but…!”

But I am originally not from House Austri, but from the Lee family of Korea.

Unable to bring myself to say that, I swallowed it, and the Protagonist of Another Novel burst out laughing.

He probably thought I had accepted it.

‘That aside, it had been only a few minutes since he was radiating hostility toward Fjodra and creating a heavy atmosphere… Yet before I knew it, he was back to his usual self with a light mood. I was relieved, but at the same time, it bothered me. I couldn’t help but wonder if I had unwittingly taken on the role of a comic relief character for mood switching. Normally, comic relief characters don’t die, but Author Senna, the creator of this world, doesn’t really consider that. In some works, the comic relief character even meets a heroic death alone. There’s not a single good omen here, and I just feel my pride has been damaged for nothing.’

So I glared fiercely at the person I suspected of treating me like a ‘button that makes you laugh when pressed.’

But that person casually brushed off my gaze and changed the subject with a smiling face.

“Can I also join when Hailga receives the apology?”

If it had been something else, I would have snorted and turned my head away, ignoring him.

But since it was helpful to me, I decided to give a proper answer.

“Do as you please.”

Judging by how he held onto me firmly and didn’t let go in Chapter 312, he seemed to have plenty of energy.

I shouldn’t rely solely on the Protagonist of Another Novel and let my guard down completely.

But having him is still better than not having him.

“Can I also go?”

As can be seen from his distinctive speech, the person who suddenly chimed in to express his desire to join is Liolikin.

Since Reysir is practically family with Dyuf and Hailga, it’s not strange that he wants to come to the meeting with the perpetrator who tormented them.

Especially since he even heard that the perpetrator hasn’t repented?

‘Of course he would be worried…’

But I don’t understand why Liolikin wants to follow.

It seems I’m not the only one who has no idea about the reason; the others also looked puzzled.

Hailga outright asked.

“Why do you want to follow?”

“Well… Karbaldr-nim is going, Reysir is going, and Hailga is going…?”

By his own standard, since a majority of people he considers close were going, he argued that he should also be there.

He even reached the peak of absurdity by suggesting that Vigdis join as well.

“Sister Vigdis, how about going too?”

“Huh? Me too? Uh… Should I?”

Even though Liolikin is already too much to handle, I have no idea why she said ‘Should I?’

Judging by Vigdis’s flustered expression, it seemed like a half-impulsive answer.

But she didn’t try to correct it even belatedly, just blinking blankly, which was equally absurd.

“Why don’t we all go together? If the goal is to make that bastard Drembi feel humiliation, the more onlookers, the better!”

As for Pret… I just have to accept it.

He’s extremely interested in other people’s personal affairs, and he has a job that would be impossible to do if he didn’t enjoy this kind of spectacle.

Svein, conscious of Fjodra who hadn’t made a decision yet.

But perhaps it was hard to speak to her directly, so he looked around and asked as if questioning an unspecified number of people.

From that behavior, he seemed unwilling to follow us.

That’s an extremely sensible reaction.

He doesn’t even know who the Confession Villain is, and he’s not particularly close to Hailga.

Whether the Confession Villain apologizes to Hailga or not is none of his business, so of course he just wants to go back to his room and stretch his legs out to rest.

If there were no possibility of the Confession Villain causing trouble, I would have done the same.

Finally, it was when Fjodra spoke.

Five people and a cheetah phantom beast came flooding into our location.

As could be seen from the cheetah phantom beast, two of the five were Valtraus and Lishida.

Since we hadn’t come to find them long after the Demonic Realm was broken, they must have thought something happened during the battle with the Boss Monster and came to our location themselves.

‘And the remaining three…! It was surprising, but when I thought about it, it was only natural. Dyuf and the Villain Brothers.’

“How did you all come here together?”

“I met them on the way.”

In response to Fjodra’s question, Valtraus gave a brief answer, passing the speaking turn to someone else.

It seemed he had no intention of giving a detailed explanation.

So the person who stepped up to resolve the Imperial Princess’s question was Dyuf.

“While I was evacuating students and faculty out of the Demonic Realm, I encountered these two people. They said they needed to go meet the two Young Lords of House Austri, so they asked me to guide them.”

The Academy grounds are surrounded by high walls, so Dyuf must have led the people to the main gate and opened the Demonic Realm entrance.

For the same reason, Valtraus and I also created an entrance there and came in.

The Villain Brothers, who cannot create Demonic Realm entrances themselves, waited at the Academy’s main gate, saw the entrance appear and people pouring out, and presumably got Dyuf, who safely evacuated them, to guide and escort them…

‘What the hell? The older brother might not know Dyuf’s face, so that’s possible. But the younger brother does, doesn’t he?!’

He said such harsh words that could make a person faint.

And he even came to apologize to Dyuf and his daughter Hailga.

I couldn’t tell whether Dyuf knew the purpose of the Villain Brothers’ visit, but it was obvious at a glance that he was feeling displeased.

‘Didn’t they even consider the possibility that Dyuf might harden his heart and throw them into the middle of a monster horde?’

I was dumbfounded for a moment, but then I thought that they might have been confident that Dyuf wouldn’t do such a thing.

Dyuf had only worked as a professor at Valhalla Academy for two weeks, and his daughter Hailga had perfectly hidden her personality all last year.

They couldn’t have known Dyuf’s kind heart and concluded that he would never harm them.

‘They just ignored and looked down on him.’

No doubt they assumed that even though they insulted the other party, the other party wouldn’t dare harm them.

Moreover, according to Dyuf, the Villain Brothers used the names of Possession Body and Valtraus to pretend to be our guests.

That would make it hard for Dyuf to refuse their request and become a reason for him to have to protect them from monsters.

Dyuf doesn’t know our relationship with them.

‘But he could have made excuses like “The Demonic Realm is dangerous” or “There might still be people hiding waiting for rescue, so we need to continue search and rescue operations” to block their entry and close the entrance…’

It seemed I wasn’t the only one with that question, as Hailga asked her father accusingly.

“Dad, why did you agree to that request?!”

“Because I was worried about you and Rei. I already did my part by getting the rescued people out, but there might be those who don’t see it that way… So I used their coercion as an excuse to come help you. Looking at the current situation, it seems I didn’t need to, though.”

“Dad…!”

When Dyuf smiled gently with a proud expression, Hailga melted with emotion and hugged him tightly.

But still, it didn’t seem right that a father had to accept such coercion to go rescue his own children.

Still, I thought the sight before me was heartwarming.