SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 105

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

Episode 105. The Way He Loves (3)
5
I am happy being with you.
To say I have lived my life for you would be an exaggeration. But to say I will live for you is no lie. How fortunate—that I can speak this truth without a shred of deception.
“Crying again?”
I could have been that kind of person.
“Let’s make a promise, you and I.”
A person who lived for someone else.
“Tell me. I want to hear it.”
“When the other person is crying, don’t ask if they’re crying on purpose. Honestly, you’re just teasing the Young Lady, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”
“Hmm. There is one thing that sometimes surprises me about you—namely, that you are unexpectedly clever. Yet it is equally obvious that while you are clever, you cannot be clever with me. It is rare to find someone so amusing to tease…….”
“I’d be grateful if you’d make that promise.”
“I refuse.”
Ah. I like it when the Young Lady says “I refuse” to me.
I really do love her…….
I love you…….
-Aaaahhh! Screeeech! No! My eyes! Ahhh! Waaaahhh! My soooooul!
The Backhoe Spirit thrashed about violently.
-Save me! Save this spirit! Why must I suffer such misfortune even after death, never finding a graceful rebirth? Why must I witness your face turning red in real time? You cursed zombie, my eyes! Save my very existence you—
‘Ah. Spirit, you poor thing, ignorant of love’s majesty.’
-Shut uuuup!
‘Rabiel, mistress of my heart…….’
-S-stop it. I said stop—!
Hmm.
Strangely, the Backhoe Spirit’s voice sounded more distant than usual. The voice that had rung loud and harsh like a boiling train whistle now seemed to have turned down its volume ever so slightly.
‘The response is beginning.’
It was not only the Backhoe Spirit whose response was beginning.
The ballroom had frozen at the kiss between Rabiel and me. Now that frozen air was just beginning to thaw.
“U-um, Young Lady of the Silver Lily duchy. What is, what is going on……?”
Oh. How curious.
A bowl of ramen noodles can talk too?
Looking at it again, what garbage.
“Forgive me for causing a disturbance.”
Rabiel leaned her head gently against my shoulder.
“I should not have acted so in a public place, Your Highness.”
“I…….”
“In my recklessness, I have spoiled the Solmewin Academy ball in small measure, and tarnished the Crown Prince’s honor in greater measure. My transgression is grave.”
Rabiel spoke in a murmur. It was enough. Her voice possessed an innate coldness yet carried a magnetic pull that drew all ears toward her. Everyone present in the ballroom stared at Rabiel in a daze.
“Since my crime is grave, I beg you to punish me. I shall accept it gladly.”
“P-punishment, you say?”
“Perhaps you find it difficult to determine what punishment would be appropriate? You likely do. Therefore, I shall instead propose my own punishment. I shall not presume to attend the Academy from this day forward, nor will I attract any stares. I shall remain quietly in self-reflection for a time. And.”
Rabiel withdrew a small paper envelope from her bosom. The Crown Prince, still barely coherent, accepted it with bewilderment.
“This is……?”
Rabiel opened her lips slowly.
“A Withdrawal Application.”
“…….”
Just as the frozen air of the ballroom was beginning to thaw, a blizzard swept through once more. The faces of the young nobility and young gentlemen—especially that of the blonde trash—were struck pale with shock.
“I shall remain in seclusion as I have stated until my withdrawal is accepted. I shall not receive private visitors either, so I humbly beseech you, Your Highness, to grant the punishment I have chosen for myself.”
“R-Rabiel……?”
“I am deeply grateful for your permission, Your Highness.”
Rabiel remained leaning against my shoulder. From that posture, she bowed toward the Crown Prince—or rather, gave a slight tilt of her head.
‘The sword stuck in the mirror means there are still lingering feelings for the Crown Prince…….’
The thought flitted through my mind—is this truly all right?
But thinking it over, Rabiel did capture the Crown Prince’s spies and had their heads cut off, didn’t she? It’s fine. This is lenient compared to that. Besides, Rabiel looks happy, so there’s nothing to object to.
Rabiel gripped my hand and pulled.
“Let’s go.”
“Y-yes.”
So what did we do as the ballroom fell into shock and chaos? We left.
We simply left.
Why not. Nobody could stop us.
You might be able to stop me. You might even manage to detain the Silver Lily Young Lady. But not us. If we want to leave, we leave. And you’d try to stop us anyway? Damn it. How exactly do you plan to stand against a regressor couple?
“The Four Kings! The Four Kings!”
Only the Heresy Inquisitor bothered to make a show of trying to grab us, scurrying after us as we departed the ballroom.
“What about the Stage conquest? And what did that kiss just mean? I didn’t understand it at all!”
The Heresy Inquisitor was the type to call kissing “smooching.” Remarkable. I’d heard rumors of such factions existing somewhere in the world, but never imagined the Heresy Inquisitor belonged to one.
“Heresy Inquisitor.”
“Yes, Four Kings! Ah, by the way, ever since I saw you and that Young Lady together just now, my heart’s been fluttering. Hmm, what might this symptom indicate?”
“Myocardial infarction. Be careful.”
“Ah. Myocardial infarction, then.”
“Yes. As for the Stage conquest, I’ll be handling that separately. Think of yourself as being on vacation, Heresy Inquisitor. If I need you, I’ll send for you.”
“Ah. I see.”
The Heresy Inquisitor smiled brightly.
“Understood! I’ll act freely according to my own judgment!”
That boundless cheerfulness unnerved me.
“…Heresy Inquisitor.”
“Yes!”
“You mustn’t kill people.”
“Ah, understood!”
“Torture is also forbidden.”
“Understood.”
“And no kidnapping or imprisoning people under the pretext of gathering information.”
“Four Kings.”
The Heresy Inquisitor looked at me with visible dismay.
“Then there’s nothing left for me to do?”
“Fine, just stay holed up in your room reading fairy tales or something.”
“Um. Yes. Understood…”
The Heresy Inquisitor’s shoulders drooped, looking pitifully like a Welsh corgi with its ears hanging low. I sighed and patted his shoulder.
“Something will come up for you later. Just keep quiet until then.”
“……”
The Heresy Inquisitor stared up at my face intently. He tilted his head three times, then opened his mouth.
“Four Kings. I’m hearing that your Immersion Rate has risen—what might that be?”
“Myocardial infarction.”
Please, just stay quiet for a while.
6
“The Empire will be in quite a stir starting tomorrow.”
As we left the Academy, the Silver Lily Young Lady spoke with composure.
“Will it?”
“I’m a person of note, you see.”
We were riding in a carriage—the Silver Lily Young Lady’s carriage. She’d said, “Since we’ve decided to indulge ourselves for once, I’d rather leave the Academy,” and naturally I had no reason to object.
“For starters, roughly two hundred letters will flood in from high society in the Capital. Another twenty or so from my hometown’s circles, and about ten of those will be from my father. And His Majesty the Emperor may send messengers as well. Now then, Gongja—propose a solution.”
“Hmm……”
I started to speak, then stopped. Wait. Didn’t she just call me Gongja instead of Butler? This is the first time I’ve been addressed by my own name.
“Why are you acting like that?”
The Silver Lily Young Lady’s eyes tilted upward at the corners.
“Your face has gone red, Gongja. Have you caught a cold?”
“……”
“The night air is chill in spring. Gongja, even if your body temperature runs high, you must take care. Otherwise, how could you answer my questions promptly, Gongja?”
Ugh.
I had to mount some kind of counterattack.
“When did you write your Withdrawal Application, anyway? Writing something like that in secret while I wasn’t around? Wow, even if today is meant to repeat, I have to say that’s rather endearing.”
“Endearing, Gongja? Do you think I’d be flustered by being called endearing by you? Gongja, is that what you call a counterattack now? That itself is what’s truly endearing. Do you wish to receive more such affection, Gongja?”
“……”
“I’ll accept your surrender.”
And just like that, the Young Lady claimed another easy victory.
Even I could see I was reserving a future of captivity under her, yet part of me thought, ‘Isn’t being captive to the Young Lady a genuinely victorious life?’—at that point, I was already finished.
“How small.”
The Silver Lily Young Lady spoke suddenly. She gazed through the carriage window at Solmewin Academy growing smaller and smaller in the distance.
“Solmewin was established as an institution deliberately designed to strengthen imperial authority. It forcibly enrolls scions of various noble and influential families from across the Empire. By sharing identical education, identical language, and identical schedules, it instills the identity of a United Imperial Subject.”
“That’s a weighty subject.”
“I stayed in that place for far too long.”
Rabiel murmured to herself.
“Beyond that small gate lies jealousy, vanity, pride, greed, lust—all of it. We merely hide our true faces behind the names of tradition and order. In the end, what we shall govern is not the Empire you see there. It lies beyond. Does Your Highness understand that?”
“Rabiel.”
She stopped short.
“Worry about the Empire later. You’re exhausted.”
……
“Think only of me right now. Even that much will make your head spin.”
The carriage lurched.
“Gongja.”
“Yes.”
“If you scar my heart, I will kill you.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Tell me what you understand.”
“No matter what happens, I will never wound your soul. And if I somehow hurt you without meaning to, I will apologize.”
“You must understand more deeply than that.”
Rabiel raised herself and sat beside me.
Press.
She placed her palm on the back of my hand. My heart raced, yet the chill at the nape of my neck lingered. The person I had come to love carried fire in her eyes and ice in her voice.
“If you betray me, Gongja.”
“Yes.”
“Strangle me to death with your own hands.”
……
“Do not use your aura. Use only your hands. Keep killing me until the fact that you and I ever met is erased from this world entirely. Whether it takes hundreds of days or thousands—it matters not. I will condemn you to eternal punishment for your death.”
Rabiel squeezed her hand gently, then brought my fingers to her own throat. White skin. Cold temperature. At the center of her neck, I felt the faint chill of her voice cords.
“And remember always that I will never forgive you, and live forever with that knowledge.”
……
“You can live forever, if you wish.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Know that the moment you betray me, you are exiled to eternal hell.”
Rabiel whispered.
“Do you understand.”
I opened my mouth.
“I understand, Rabiel.”
“If there is a secret you must tell me, confess it now.”
“I have a skill called Hundred Ghosts Resurrection.”
I confessed without a moment’s hesitation.
“Those who die by my hand can be summoned by me even after death. The summoned may not inherit their former abilities, but if I wish it, they can inherit their appearance and memories.”
“Then I too could be summoned.”
“Since Rabiel has died nine times with me, summoning nine versions of you would be possible.”
“I forbid it.”
“Yes.”
I had never intended to summon Rabiel anyway—never, under any circumstance. But her voice and her words sealed off that possibility once more.
Love was a sacred promise, a contract.
We were building our own legal code, ours alone.
“When you betray me, I add one more task: destroy that skill.”
“I will.”
And then I chose my words carefully. This was the person I loved. The person who would love me. I had to cherish and guard those words more than I would with anyone else in the world.
“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”
“Make me one promise, and I will forgive you.”
“I’m listening.”
“Do not take your own life without my permission.”
……
“Even if the time comes when you could escape through death, do not die. You are my lover. You are not someone who should throw away your life so carelessly. No matter how certain death seems, fight to the very end.”
I fell silent.
Carving the promise we had made into my heart.
“Yes.”
“Tell me what you want from me.”
“Please trust me when I ask you to.”
“I will always trust you.”
The carriage lurched. Taking the small tremor as an excuse, Silver Lily Young Lady and I leaned toward each other. And our lips met.
From that day forward.
We became each other’s love.
SSS-Rank Hunter: Die to Live (Serial Publication)
Author │ Shin Noa
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daeryung Post Tower 1st)
Email │ [email protected]
Homepage │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Shin Noa 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. The content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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