Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 137

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 137
Je-gal Pyo hesitated, glancing around nervously. When Yun Ra-sa, sitting with her arms crossed, showed no sign of moving, the boy finally opened his mouth as if he had no choice.
“I, I’ve… always really liked studying demons…”
“Huh?”
“What?”
Yi Yeon-jo and I both startled at his opening words, and Yun Ra-sa, who had been silent, opened her sharp eyes wide.
“You like demons? Are you out of your mind, glasses?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant! I, I mean I like them from an academic perspective…”
“What in the world does it mean to like them academically?”
“I, uh, um, w-well, th-that is…”
As Yun Ra-sa pressed him, Je-gal Pyo shrank back with a pained expression. Seeing how badly he stammered, I felt compelled to step in.
“You mean you like studying demons themselves rather than liking demons as creatures, right?”
“Y-yes, that’s it!”
Je-gal Pyo looked at me like I was his savior and nodded vigorously, then began pouring out words like rapid gunfire.
“I’ve always found learning about demons incredibly fun and enjoyable. So when I discovered I had the talent to become a sorcerer, I was overjoyed. My parents run a Merchant Guild, and a sorcerer they hired as a guard recognized my talent! I followed that person and began studying sorcery at Sipseungji! My parents opposed it, but…”
“Sipseungji? You came from Sipseungji?”
Yun Ra-sa asked in surprise. I was inwardly shocked as well.
‘If Baekui-bang is a small elite group of demon hunters, then Sipseungji is the largest demon hunter faction in Yun Kingdom. It’s an organization formed by ten different branches coming together.’
Je-gal Pyo lowered his eyes in embarrassment.
“W-well, yes, but it’s not really impressive… My sorcery skills are i-insufficient, so I didn’t even get a r-recommendation from Sipseungji to Seongsul Academy…”
“So you took the entrance exam despite being affiliated with Sipseungji and passed Seongsul Academy? That seems even more impressive to me.”
At my words, Je-gal Pyo’s face turned as red as a roasted sweet potato.
“It’s n-not impressive at all. I, I just study h-hard. But I only k-know how to study. Th-that’s why I’m telling you this… I d-don’t really have any special skills, and I’m n-not good at sorcery either…”
Yun Ra-sa asked Je-gal Pyo, who looked like he wanted to disappear into a mouse hole, with a lukewarm tone.
“How bad are we talking?”
“…I haven’t s-successfully tamed or absorbed the power of a s-single demon. My demon power is… all s-small portions I received from my master and s-senior disciples… just a m-mouse’s tail…”
“Not a single one? No tamed demons or absorbed demons at all?”
Yun Ra-sa asked as if she couldn’t believe it. Je-gal Pyo hung his head in silence.
The kid was completely deflated. Perhaps his stammering and timidity weren’t his true nature but stemmed from a lack of confidence.
“You’re a sorcerer, right? Setting aside taming, if you haven’t directly absorbed a single demon until now, do you even have any sorcery you can use? Are you really okay like that, glasses?”
Yun Ra-sa spoke without hesitation. Je-gal Pyo bowed his head even deeper.
If I interpreted it in Yun Ra-sa’s manner of speaking, that was probably her way of saying she was worried he might get hurt during the exam, but to the already deflated Je-gal Pyo, it would only sound like criticism.
‘Sigh, Ra-sa, you’re going to make the kid cry at this rate.’
I quickly stepped between them.
“But captain, you’re good with talismans. Weren’t all those talismans you placed on the earthen wall that Yi Yeon-jo created made by you?”
Yi Yeon-jo, who had been rolling his eyes at the uncomfortable atmosphere, hastily picked up my words.
“R-right! The captain used so many talismans in just one day. Plus, you ranked third in Plum Blossom Class.”
“Th-that’s… more knowledge than actual s-sorcery…”
Despite the praise, Je-gal Pyo’s expression grew darker. It seemed like a deeply rooted sense of self-doubt. Now that I thought about it, during class formation, he had used his intellect to solve the Crown Prince’s puzzle rather than using sorcery to pass.
‘A sorcerer who can’t properly use sorcery… just consoling him won’t help much. Maybe if I address the root cause, things will improve?’
She hadn’t offered me a prayer, but she’d made something close to a confession just now—so I wanted to help her. That’s what a proper deity would do.
‘Though I don’t know much about human sorcerers myself. Ah, Seok-ran would know something. After living over a thousand years, she’s probably sick of seeing sorcerers.’
Before I could ask Seok-ran, I needed to understand why she’d failed to properly deal with the demon all this time.
While I was deliberating how to broach the subject gently, Yun Ra-sa cut through the silence with blunt directness.
“But you with the glasses—why haven’t you been absorbing demonic energy all this time?”
“….”
“Usually, sorcerers accumulate demonic energy in their bodies without even trying, right? That’s why they often suffer ailments. If you’re supposedly a sorcerer but can’t absorb it, something’s wrong with you, isn’t it? Maybe you mistook your constitution, or you have some talent for sorcery but not enough to actually become a sorcerer.”
Je-gal Pyo shrank further into himself. Yi Yeon-jo let out an exasperated sigh and spoke.
“Yun Ra-sa, choose your words more carefully, would you?”
“Did I say anything wrong? And you’re the one who kept insisting we need to know each other well since we’re going to fight together from now on. Take it up with her.”
Yun Ra-sa scowled and pointed at me. I couldn’t help but sigh as well.
“Yun Ra-sa, I said we should get to know each other, not dig into each other’s secrets.”
“Is this digging? A sorcerer can’t use sorcery properly, and I’m not supposed to ask why? Because she might get hurt? Ha.”
Yun Ra-sa let out a hollow laugh and raised her eyebrows.
“This is why you’re all naive children who’ve lived comfortable lives. When she fails to use sorcery when she needs to and people start dropping dead, that’ll be a real wound….”
The girl who’d been pouring out angry words suddenly trailed off. Yun Ra-sa’s eyes widened as she gazed beyond the wall, and she whispered softly.
“Something’s coming.”
“What?”
“You all just stay put here. I don’t trust you.”
The girl spoke with cutting sharpness, then rose from her seat and leaped silently onto the earthen wall like a cat.
Stars now dotted the night sky. The moon was barely visible as the new moon approached. Beyond the campfire’s glow lay nothing but faint starlight and profound darkness.
From that darkness, Yun Ra-sa, perched atop the earthen wall, quietly drew something out. A bow and arrows—though where she’d been hiding them remained a mystery.
‘Wait, those aren’t ordinary arrows… those are blunt arrows.’
Much shorter than regular arrows, they were the kind loaded into a quiver and fired with special technique. I’d heard they were difficult to master but compensated with speed, stealth, and tremendous power.
‘I saw them when the Crown Prince was teaching me archery.’
The Crown Prince had said blunt arrows were difficult—yet a twelve-year-old was wielding them? She definitely hadn’t lived an ordinary life.
“Something’s coming? What do you mean? An instructor? Surely not in the middle of the night?”
Yi Yeon-jo spoke with evident anxiety. Je-gal Pyo adjusted his glasses slightly and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to calm himself.
I manifested my wing-robe and opened my Heavenly Eyes, sending a telepathic message to Gwang-chul on my wrist.
[Demon, is it an instructor? We’re not in actual danger, are we?]
[Well, I could tell you, but you were instructed not to interfere since you must take the test yourselves, were you not?]
[…Irritating creature.]
[Irritating? I’m merely following the Princess’s orders faithfully!]
I’d asked out of anxiety stemming from memories of Geu-seun-dae, but seeing Gwang-chul’s response, it seemed we weren’t in real danger after all.
Feeling somewhat reassured, I moved closer to the earthen wall. Yun Ra-sa had her eyes narrowed to slits as she nocked a blunt arrow to her bow.
“What do you see?”
“Shut it and stay put safely like I told you.”
Yun Ra-sa replied harshly in a lowered voice, then suddenly released the bowstring. With a thin twang, the arrow flew downward. The girl immediately clicked her tongue.
“Damn, I think I missed. It’s too dark to see properly.”
“I can help you see.”
“What? How are you—wait, what?”
I rose slightly into the air and descended beside Yun Ra-sa, who stared at me with her mouth hanging open.
“You flew?”
“Is that really so surprising? Didn’t I tell you this thing is called the ‘Winged Robe’?”
“…Damn it, you didn’t show me that before.”
“It seemed so obvious I forgot. Just a moment.”
Speaking in hushed tones, I traced the flow of energy through my Celestial Eye and detected an extraordinarily peculiar current. Following it, my gaze naturally lifted skyward, and Yun Ra-sa’s eyes rose to meet the heavens as well.
Our eyes met. Above us, a shadow buried in the pitch-black night sky tilted its head curiously.
“Wow, I didn’t expect to be spotted so quickly. You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you?”
A voice tinged with amusement accompanied the shadow as it dispersed like mist, revealing a figure suspended in the sky. A pair of brilliantly white wings spread wide.
“Your first test, Plum Blossom Class Team One.”
We were Team One?
The thought didn’t linger long. From the fingertips of Heo Gye-gyo, who had spread his arms wide alongside his wings, something began to pour down in a cascade.
‘Small pellets? Beans?’
Those were Utouri’s vital acupoints, weren’t they? Surely not—
My ominous premonition proved accurate. The tiny pellets that had seemed so insignificant swelled enormously the moment they struck the ground. Dozens of soldiers clad in gleaming armor began charging toward our position, weapons raised.
“What the hell is that!”
Yun Ra-sa screamed.

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