Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 273

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 1 Spinoff Episode 9
3. Secret of Secrets (3)
[Secret (★) Clear… Failed!]
[There are additional hidden conditions related to the secret.]
The condition wasn’t cleared.
This isn’t some kind of joke…
Hahahahaha
I need to save a clip of Almond’s facial expression changes lol
That’s hilarious lol
-Getting baited like this is so frustrating.
Looking at the chat reactions, it seems this is how it normally works.
-In Ran’s story mode, the 1-star condition is achieved last to prevent players from clearing with just 1-star and leaving. This isn’t a spoiler, right?
“…Ah. So that’s how it is.”
It made sense—if I could clear with 1-star and leave at this point, the game developers who built everything beyond this would certainly feel cheated.
‘Anyway, that’s not what matters right now.’
Ran was in the middle of telling me something very important.
“You ordered me to kill Sallie, and then what happened?”
Ran continued speaking while gazing blankly at the hazy sky.
“I… succeeded in gathering evidence that Sallie was a witch.”
“Sallie was a witch?”
“Yes. She had green eyes, kept her pinky fingernails long, and never tied her hair.”
“…Those are the conditions for being a witch?”
Those are rather absurd conditions for a witch. If I’d seen someone transform into a sheep right before my eyes, I might understand… but just these things being witch conditions?
“That witches store their magical power in their pinky fingernails isn’t exactly a great secret.”
“Even granting that, the rest could all be coincidences.”
“That’s possible. However, the physical description matched far too closely with ‘Meisa, the Desert Witch’ whom the temple’s holy knights were pursuing. Most importantly….”
“?”
“The decisive evidence was that she bled profusely in cycles with the moon’s waxing.”
“…?”
What is he talking about?
Surely he doesn’t mean menstruation?
I found myself with an expression of utter bewilderment.
“This bleeding you mention….”
“It means she bleeds instead of having normal bowel movements. This is a characteristic of witches.”
ㅋㅋㅋ
[UNTRANSLATED LINE 36]
(This is Korean onomatopoeia for laughter, equivalent to “hahaha” or “lol” in English)
-They taught kids this???
-This is insane…
At this rate, we might as well just make everyone a witch lol
If young boys were kept completely isolated from women and never taught about menstruation, this explanation would certainly make sense.
These boys would rarely, if ever, encounter women’s menstruation. They’d have no opportunity to learn it was a natural phenomenon.
Anyone designated as a witch would be subjected to intense scrutiny, making it easy to fabricate evidence from used sanitary products and other such items.
“By the way, does anyone else outside the order know about this… menstruation thing you mentioned regarding that witch?”
“No, absolutely not. It’s a secret that must never be revealed to outsiders. If it were, the witch would improve her constitution, and all the knowledge accumulated by the Holy Knights over the years would become worthless. Apparently, this has happened several times already.”
As expected… there’s no way I can speak of such things to outsiders.
But then why is she telling me?
Does she not consider me an outsider at all?
I decided not to stop Ran, who was already spilling everything so freely, and remained silent.
“According to the order’s teachings, Sallie was definitely a witch…”
Ran’s gaze dropped downward. Then her legs began to tremble violently. She gripped her knees tightly with both hands as if trying to stop the shaking. She squeezed so hard the fabric nearly tore.
Trembling like that, the words she barely managed to utter were these:
“But I hesitated.”
“Why?”
“Because my thoughts, my eyes, my ears, my skin all told me that Sallie was not a witch.”
Ran continued with difficulty, but she poured all her conviction into her words.
“No matter how much I examined her, no matter how long I observed her, she was just an ordinary girl. A bright, harmless girl who never caused anyone any trouble.”
“…”
Ran’s lips had turned pale.
Speaking these words themselves seemed to cause her immense pain.
Moreover, her body was currently in a severely weakened state.
“That’s enough. You don’t have to say anymore.”
“No… I will tell you everything.”
Ran bit her lip and enunciated each syllable clearly.
“I could not kill Sallie. I could not even tell the order that I couldn’t kill her. I… I let her go.”
“…You let her go?”
“I told her everything truthfully and told her to run away.”
Ugh… *cries*
-Wow.
I fell for you at first sight, Ran Shek lol
-She actually helped her escape…
Now I understood why Ran had received such a severe punishment. While it still didn’t make sense from a common perspective, from the order’s logic, it was at least comprehensible.
“Why would you go that far? You could have just reported it to the order.”
“…If I had, another boy would have come and killed her.”
“But you said she was a witch.”
“She was not a witch!”
Thud.
Ran suddenly stood up from her seat. She swayed momentarily, but her momentum suggested she might charge at me any second.
“…What about the evidence?”
“…”
At my pressing question, Ran finally fell silent.
All the evidence pointing to witchcraft pointed to Sallie, yet in her own perception, she was not a witch.
Either the doctrine was wrong, or I was wrong.
Faced with these two choices, I couldn’t bring myself to pick the former.
“…Yes. That’s why I was punished. I had all the evidence that she was a witch, and yet I…saved her. I wanted to save her. My mouth moved of its own accord. When I came to my senses, my hands and feet had already spirited Sallie out of the village.”
“So that’s what you mean by giving your heart.”
“…Yes.”
Now I finally understood the full story of what had happened.
“Did you fall for her at first sight? Or did you grow to like her over time?”
“Pardon?”
Ran’s face flushed crimson at my blunt question.
She’d turned so red that even her bare upper body had taken on a reddish hue.
Pfft.
I burst out laughing at the sight.
“So it was love at first sight?”
“…I, I don’t know what that is, but it seems like it.”
“That’s just how it is at your age.”
-Come on, Almond.
-Toffee nut latte, you know~
Hahaha Almond reminiscing about their first love hahaha
You look like an old man ㅠㅠ ㅋㅋㅋ
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“At your age, it’s only natural for a girl to like a boy, for a boy to like a girl. No one can stop that. Not even those who borrow the name of God.”
“That is….”
At my words that even God couldn’t stop it, Ran’s expression went blank with astonishment.
“Who are you to say such things?”
I didn’t answer, just stood up from where I sat.
“Let’s go. Come to think of it, that guy I scared off earlier might have regained his courage by now. Do you have somewhere to go?”
“That is….”
Ran averted her gaze and muttered quietly.
“There’s a village where I hid…Sallie….”
“Then that’s where we’ll go.”
Without the slightest hesitation, I finished what Ran was trying to say.
“Can you hide your identity?”
“I don’t, I don’t know. I’ll do my best. But I absolutely must go.”
Oh my god, I’m so upset.
That’s so cool.
Going to Sally without any plan… That’s crazy.
-Wow. That’s a true romantic.
I suspected that the journey to Sallie was the method to claim the second star.
‘But what about Laurent?’
The one thing weighing on my mind was Laurent. He’d been curious about whether Ran was safe, why she’d been imprisoned. He’d probably be disappointed if I just left like this.
‘But looking at how the situation is unfolding now, Laurent doesn’t seem to be the important one.’
I felt sorry for Laurent, but with Ran’s life hanging in the balance, a school friend’s hurt feelings seemed like such a trivial matter in comparison.

I had to save Ran immediately for the story mode to work, so I decided to brush past Laurent’s concerns. This was simply the fate of an extra character, I supposed.
[UNTRANSLATED LINE 127]
* * *
Escaping the school turned out to be surprisingly easy.
I only had to deal with three or four guards patrolling the area, which was hardly difficult for me.
If anything, the armor and weapons I obtained from the guards only made Ran and me stronger.
After that, we entered the guards’ break room and gathered food supplies.
While collecting provisions, Ran couldn’t resist and began inhaling biscuits right there on the spot.
“Cough… cough.”
Despite choking on the dry biscuits and coughing, he was too busy eating frantically.
He had been that starved.
“Sob… sob….”
As Ran ate the biscuits, he began to whimper softly, but I simply pretended not to notice and gathered more pies and various pastries.
With our backpacks stuffed full of food, we soon walked beyond the school’s perimeter.
Then the screen faded to black.
[Loading…]
The scene was transitioning.
Thump.
[Ludengard Village]
The story resumed from the moment we arrived at the village.
The first thing I heard was someone bickering loudly.
“When did I ever say I’d give you a 10 Silver discount?”
“You just did!? You said if I buy this, you’d take off 10 Silver, making it 90 Silver total!”
“So when exactly!?”
“This is… I swear by the goddess of mercy and lies that you’re not lying!”
Surrounding the argument were crowds of passersby watching like it was a circus, whispering and laughing as they observed the quarrel.
“Fresh lemon sugar water that’ll knock you right out for just 5 Copper! Watch while you drink, drink while you watch!”
The merchants didn’t miss the opportunity and jumped in as well.
That’s right.
We were in the middle of a bustling marketplace.
“Excuse me, please move….”
Ran spoke carefully as he weaved through the crowd. I naturally followed behind him.
“Hey, Ran. Are we almost there?”
“…?”
Ran turned his head at my words, his eyes showing faint surprise.
“You’ve returned. Almond?”
“Huh?”
“Lete has been filling in for a while now. I thought you’d left for good.”
“Ah….”
This is unbelievable. The body’s owner seems to come and go.
When scenes get skipped, it appears Lete is in control of the body.
“At least it will be more comfortable for a while.”
A human soul coming and going, yet such a composed reaction. Laurent was like this too.
What kind of person was this thug Lete normally?
“Is it… really okay? For Lete?”
“Ah. Lete has always been susceptible to possession. After a serious injury long ago… he began frequently accepting other souls.”
I see.
To think he experiences this so regularly. It’s quite remarkable.
“I understand. What happened while I was gone? I don’t remember.”
After hearing a summary of the situation, I learned this was the village I’d told Sallie to flee to.
“We’re almost there now.”
“Ah.”
Will it end when Ran and Sallie meet like this?
I scratched my head and followed Ran.
Ran spotted the sign of an inn and pointed toward it, entering inside.
Creeeeak….
The inn’s weathered wooden double doors opened.
Ding.
[A girl has been found!]
With this notification, a girl with long reddish-brown hair greeted us with her back turned.
She was diligently explaining the menu to customers and taking orders.
“Ah… yes. A bacon sandwich and… I’m sorry, but we’ve run out of mushrooms today….”
Ran and I naturally took a seat. Once seated, I could see her profile.
‘Oh….’
A radiant and flower-like face. Clear and spirited energy emanated from her.
“Melly! We have new customers!”
“Ah, yes! I’ll take their order right away!”
So her name was Melly.
It’s quite like her that she hasn’t completely abandoned her previous name.
“What would you like….”
She brushed her reddish-brown wavy hair back, and as our eyes met, she froze.
I glanced at Ran’s expression beside me.
Melly was somewhat frozen, but Ran was like a snowman.
“….”
The two of them stared for a long moment, as if they’d fainted while standing.
As if wishing time would stop right there.
Sallie’s lips curved upward slightly, and as she took a step forward.
Almond’s eyes widened, freezing in place.
“…?!”
It wasn’t because of Sallie.
It was true that affectionate glances sparked like welding flames between Sallie and Ran as they drew closer, but that wasn’t why I’d frozen.
That wasn’t the reason Almond had stiffened.
‘That is….’
I’d seen a familiar face at the table beyond.
‘The one who was next to Bered…?’
When Almond and Yang had been struggling with Bered.
That refined-looking teacher who’d been searching for Lete.
Was his name Daria?
“…Ran.”
With a trembling voice, I gripped Ran’s shoulder hard enough to crush it.
And….
“…Yes, yes?”
I pushed her down immediately.
Under the table!
“Get down!”
Daria moved at the same moment.
Whoooosh──!
A massive spear of light pierced through where Ran and Almond’s upper bodies had just been.
Boom!
It then drove into the wall behind them, shattering it.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaack!”
The patrons sprang from their seats, screaming. People scattered in all directions.
Ran went rigid, unable to move.
She was staring at the wall behind her.
“Cough… Ugh… R, Ran….”
Sallie was pinned to that wall. Her abdomen pierced clean through by the massive spear, she’d been hurled against the wall and fixed there.
“I thought you’d grow into something great. Yet you’ve bungled everything for a mere woman like this, Ran?”
Daria laughed broadly, summoning white mana once more.
“Did you think we couldn’t catch you?”
The man laughing with such callous derision was utterly different from the one I’d seen at the academy.
“The Order has passed judgment upon you.”
Crackle!

“Death sentence.”
[UNTRANSLATED LINE 240]

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————