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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: 1.8 Broken Ravishment Flag, Another Flag Raised in Its Place?
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I ran my index finger along the edge of the IOU I had received from the Student Council President.
A sharp sting accompanied the cut on my finger.
Scarlet droplets of blood welled up one after another.
I held my bleeding finger up to Teacher Akatsuki's lips.
『Naibusu! I never thought you'd be like this! I'm disappointed!! If you're going to do it, why not show it to me?!』
『What?! This pervert!! I knew he was someone you couldn't trust!!』
Sinozaki Shinobu must have arrived at some point.
The minds of the two women outside the lab were buzzing noisily.
"Haa, haa, dick? Dick?"
Teacher Akatsuki licked my finger with eyes completely gone mad.
-Slurp, slurp, suck.
Her bright red lips and tongue wrapped around my finger, sucking on it.
Teacher Akatsuki, so engrossed in sucking my finger, almost looked like she was fellating something else entirely.
"Haa, faster, slurp, slurp──"
"Just a bit more. The reaction will come soon."
Blood infused with powerful mana can sometimes act as poison, other times as medicine.
──And my blood contained an extraordinarily potent amount of mana.
Mana so strong that a single drop would be a lethal dose for an ordinary person.
"Gasp──?!"
Teacher Akatsuki's eyes widened, and she froze stiff.
It had begun. Her body's detoxification reaction.
"Teacher Akatsuki. Breathe."
"Haaack!"
Forgetting to even breathe, Teacher Akatsuki finally exhaled at my words.
In this world, if a human takes in more mana than their limit, their body cells activate and... something like that.
The original game had some vague setting like that.
I didn't remember all the details.
Anyway, the point was that excess mana temporarily supercharged the body's functions.
Enough to overcome mild drugs.
Of course, for a normal person, it might cause shock and death...
But worrying about that much would be disrespectful to a first-generation survivor like her.
I crouched down beside the huddled Teacher Akatsuki and gently stroked her back.
Then, through the touching skin, I interfered with Teacher Akatsuki's mind.
『Teacher Akatsuki. You're not the kind of woman who crumbles from something like this. Pull yourself together.』
I recalled it.
Yuuki scolding the drugged-out wreck that Teacher Akatsuki had become.
Yuuki's lines that reignited the flame in Teacher Akatsuki's extinguished convictions.
"Haaah! Haaaang!"
Sweat poured from Teacher Akatsuki's face like rain.
A coquettish lilt began mixing into her voice.
『It hurts! It hurts! Aaah! What is this?! It hurts!』
Her unstable, wavering mind was making me nauseous.
I steadily transmitted my mind to Teacher Akatsuki.
『Were your convictions really so weak that they would yield to mere drugs? You were the most stubborn woman I knew. At the same time, the most upright. That's why I respected you. Because you had 'conviction.' The Teacher Akatsuki I respect isn't someone who would lose to drugs like this!』
"Haaah! Hyaaang?!"
Teacher Akatsuki screamed, curling her body tight.
She clawed at her chest in agony.
A voice unclear if pleasure or pain echoed through the lab.
『It hurts... It's hot... Aaah... Why am I like this...? Whose voice is that? Naibusu...? Winzer...?』
A glimmer of reason returned to Teacher Akatsuki's clouded eyes.
"Haa, haa, ha, ugh...!"
Unfortunately, the Mind Rune had no recovery function.
Forcing her to drink my blood had been a desperate measure.
Still, it should help a little in overcoming the addiction symptoms.
All I could do now was hope Teacher Akatsuki overcame it on her own.
Meanwhile, the noisy minds from outside kept coming.
『This pervert! Up to no good as expected! Ugh! If only the President would give the order, I'd burst in right now!!』
『What's going on inside?! I'm so curious!! Can't I just peek a little?! No, of course not, right?!』
It's not like that, I tell you.
Can't you trust an ally for once?
Ignoring the chatter outside, I kept sending encouraging minds to Teacher Akatsuki.
『Overcome it, Teacher Akatsuki. Cast out those drugs. Just like you always did to me! Chastise them and break them!』
Just to be clear, these were Yuuki's lines from the original game.
I was merely relaying the exact words that had worked even on a fully addicted Teacher Akatsuki.
It absolutely wasn't because I enjoyed spouting cringey lines like this.
"Hngh... Nai, busu..."
"Teacher Akatsuki!"
Teacher Akatsuki grabbed my hand with trembling fingers.
I gripped it back firmly.
Hoping it would lend her even a little strength to overcome the drugs.
A faint smile spread across Teacher Akatsuki's lips.
As if telling me not to worry.
She smiled at me.
『Right... I have students to protect, students to set an example for. I can't show such weakness in front of them... Ah!』
"Hngh! Hic! Haa... Ah!"
Teacher Akatsuki, groaning in torment, suddenly widened her eyes.
Her body shuddered violently, then went limp all at once.
Teacher Akatsuki slumped like a marionette with cut strings.
"Teacher Akatsuki!"
I hurriedly cradled her upper body and checked her condition.
She's breathing.
Her pulse is beating.
Her mind is calm.
──Akatsuki Hiyori had overcome the drugs.
...Whew. That scared me.
I thought she'd died from mana overdose.
There was no pain on the unconscious Teacher Akatsuki's face.
It was a peaceful expression, like sleeping in her own bed.
...Though her clothes were ragged like after a rape.
But that's not on me!
I inwardly paid respects to Teacher Akatsuki's strong mind for overcoming the drugs.
Even in her faint, she hadn't let go of my hand.
I carried the unconscious Teacher Akatsuki out of the lab.
The President and Sinozaki, who had been eavesdropping with ears to the door, panicked and pretended otherwise when they saw us.
"Detox is complete. She should be fine now."
At my words, the President wore a suspicious look, while Sinozaki looked utterly flabbergasted.
『So brazen. It's almost admirable. Why not become a politician?』
『Pervert! Acting like nothing happened! I absolutely won't let you have the President!』
It seemed impossible to clear up these two's misunderstandings.
This is so unfair.
Something misunderstandable did happen, true.
All I could do was hope Teacher Akatsuki testified for me.
After alternating glances between me and the fainted Teacher Akatsuki, the President finally spoke.
"Did you use protection properly?"
"...Whatever the President is worried about, it didn't happen. No need to fret."
* * *
A week after that incident.
Teacher Akatsuki Hiyori, who had been away from the academy on sick leave, returned to the podium.
In the week Teacher Akatsuki had been absent, many changes had swept through the academy.
Student Council President Mizuki had confronted the chairman and overhauled all the outdated school rules.
Regulations on hairstyles, dyeing, uniforms, accessories, and more.
A fresh wind blew through the academy, long bound by antiquated customs.
The students cheered, but the tradition-loving faculty and alumni grumbled.
They whispered behind her back that the President had changed the rules for her favored students.
But those fools only whispered.
There was no one bold enough in Rune Academy to formally protest to the iron-blooded Student Council President. Anyone like that was already dead.
Still, they thought.
That strict Akatsuki Hiyori would surely make a fuss upon her return.
Even as Student Director, she wouldn't defy the President outright, but they expected some commotion.
But their expectations missed the mark spectacularly.
A commotion did occur, but it was the exact opposite of what they imagined.
"You there! Student Naibusu!"
Akatsuki Hiyori, the Student Director, was guiding students at the school gate for the first time in ages.
In the direction she pointed stood a blond delinquent entering school surrounded by a gaggle of beautiful girls, like the protagonist of a harem novel.
Naibusu Winzer.
Rune Academy's infamous troublemaker.
"Oh? Ooh?"
Naibusu, meeting Teacher Akatsuki after so long, widened his eyes.
She looked nothing like the Teacher Akatsuki he remembered.
"Ah, h-hello, Teacher Akatsuki...? You look, uh... incredibly... today?"
Naibusu stared at Teacher Akatsuki, at a loss for words.
Her vividly dyed red hair fluttered in the wind.
A tight miniskirt, high heels, sparkling earrings on her ears.
Her deep-cleft blouse seemed to flaunt her ample bosom.
The tacky red-framed glasses were gone.
It was unimaginable for the prim, proper Teacher Akatsuki.
No wonder Naibusu suspected aphrodisiac side effects.
The surrounding students were just as flustered.
They wore expressions like they'd been assigned to defuse a bomb they'd never seen before.
Hoping Naibusu would somehow handle this bomb.
"How do I look? Does it suit me?"
Even Teacher Akatsuki, asking that, was inwardly flustered.
『I overdid it! Even if I wanted to shed my strict image, who would like an old virgin like me dressing this trashy?! I picked the wrong person to consult!』
Naibusu, wondering what kind of trap this was, understood the situation from Teacher Akatsuki's leaking mind.
She had attempted an image change to better approach the students.
"It suits you... incredibly well."
"R-Really?"
Teacher Akatsuki asked back without confidence.
Naibusu recalled the dating knowledge from his past life's pure love stories: 'When a woman changes something, praise her specifically.'
"Yes! That fiery red hair symbolizing your passionate teaching of students! The open neckline signifying your open heart to listen to their stories! And, uh, the high heels to oversee the students from on high! Above all, by changing your own appearance, you're setting an example for students struggling to adapt to the new rules! As expected of Teacher Akatsuki, who always puts students first! I respect you, Teacher!"
It flowed out smoothly.
"Th-That much... Ahem."
Teacher Akatsuki steadied her loosening expression amid Naibusu's praise barrage.
She'd never thought of meanings for her outfit or hair color, but hearing Naibusu say it made it sound plausible.
"Right, Teacher! It suits you great!"
"So cool!"
"You're pretty!"
The surrounding students chimed in one by one, reading the mood.
Only then did Teacher Akatsuki regain some confidence.
"Ahem. Student Naibusu. Now that even the teacher has changed her hair color, no one will complain about yours anymore. If anyone does, bring them to me."
"Ah... Thank you, Teacher."
Naibusu expressed his thanks with a dumbfounded look.
"Well then, Teacher will head in now."
Teacher Akatsuki turned away with the click of her high heels, as if she'd said all she needed.
Her hips swayed enticingly beneath the tight skirt as she entered the grounds.
The students at the gate, regardless of gender, couldn't tear their eyes from that alluring figure.
『Ugh... Why does my heart race so much seeing Naibusu? At this rate, it's like I'm──』
A faint mind leaked from the receding Teacher Akatsuki.
Naibusu thought of Teacher Akatsuki.
Maybe the drug side effects lingered after all.
-Chapter 1. Tutorial Complete-