After Stealing Hero's Mother, I Reincarnated in the Fantasy World!-Chapter 125: Changes

The voices of the students and their clapping continued to bombard Cale from all sides, the coins being thrown jingling pitifully beneath his feet.

'This... this... this...'

Staring in disbelief at what was happening, Cale felt strong emotions bubbling up inside him, ready to erupt at any moment.

Eventually he couldn't stand it any longer and stepped forward... starting to pick up coins from the ground.

'This is it! The World is helping me, just as the Master said!'

Cale shouted in his soul, clenching his fists even tighter with glee.

'Did the World really realize I was hungry right now and gave me this opportunity? Hehehe, as expected from someone whose destiny it is to rule this world.'

The World even sent all these people to deliver the money to him.

Cale grinned as he continued to collect the coins, but he suddenly flinched. The smile slowly faded from his face, and his hands began to shake uncontrollably.

The coins were… round...with a hole in the middle… just like.....

Cale swallowed hard.

Traumatic memories from the Trial in the Rift flashed through his mind, making his hands shake even more.

The Trial... Rift... Donat saying he hasn't eaten yet.... Sudden earthquake in the Rift... and an accidental fall....

The pale Cale quickly tucked the coins into his pocket. Only then did the violent trembling stop.

Rising, he looked around at everyone around him.

While those waited to see what else he had to show, he only looked at everyone who threw him coins and memorized their faces, including all the beautiful female students.

"This King is broke now, but he will not forget you after his enthronement."

Dropping that meaningful phrase, Cale turned around and putting his hands behind his back began to walk away as his clear words echoed in everyone's ears.

"This King never forgets either kindness or hatred shown to him. A drop of water received in need will be repaid with a whole spring. Just as a spark of hatred will be returned by a burnt forest."

To the ringing laughter and clapping of the students, Cale walked with confident, proud steps to the nearest dining hall.

But he hadn't gone a few steps before he froze in place.

A strange feeling appeared deep within him.

Something was wrong… something about this situation was wrong.

It was something on the level of an intuitive feeling. And Cale trusted that unique inner feeling.

He wasn't an idiot.

He had long ago realized that the World often prompted him along his path, allowing him to avoid bad decisions.

It has saved him from major mistakes and embarrassment more than once before.

And now the World was telling him that he was missing something, something important...

Cale touched the money in his pocket that he had just collected.

"I feel like I'm missing something..."

"The World sent these people to help me… they threw me money… I collected it and was on my way to the dinning room… wait, This is it!"

Cale laughed and shook his head.

"I really did look like an idiot just now."

How could he not realize it?

The nearest dining room was also Donat's favorite dining room! He couldn't go there!

"They say a smart man doesn't make the same mistake twice. I wonder if that applies to Kings, too."

With a decisive change of direction, Cale walked with confident and this time slightly more proud steps to the other dining room.

***

By this point, the pair of elf and human had long forgotten about Cale.

"Haha, so you did it? And what happened next?"

"He shouted something along the lines of 'bow before me and I will spare your life'."

Ael laughed ringingly, patting him on the back.

Rain smiled as well, though at that moment part of his mind was distracted by the notification from the system.

He noticed that the number of his Steal Points had increased noticeably.

'Even such actions are considered stealing? Interesting...'

After he stole her away from Cale, leaving him alone, the number of Points jumped up.

'Is it because I affected his psychological state? But it seems he was already broken before that...?'

Smiling broadly inwardly, Rain returned his full attention to Ael again.

"By the way, did you see this? The Finale."

"Tournament Finals?"

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

Ael smiled crookedly.

"That was... amazing."

When she'd first seen that guy, Gray, she'd had strange feelings about him. It was hard for her to describe them, as if it was something more than she could realize...

But after his miserable defeat, those feelings were gone. All that was left in her was enthusiasm.

Memories of that desperate cry from the usually proud Gray and the sight of him being carried away on a stretcher under the gaze of all the onlookers had brought a smile to her face more than once over the past couple days.

That perpetually arrogant smirk on his face, as if he knew more than anyone else... was completely shattered.

And in addition to that enthusiasm, there was surprise in her as well.

Despite her defeat in the Tournament Semifinals, her feelings weren't as overwhelmed as she thought.

The sense of defeat, the fear of not being the best, that usually gnawed at her wherever she went, were almost imperceptible in her now.

Could it have been because of the words Rain had said to her before the Finals?

"...really funny."

Shaking her head, Ael looked at Rain again.

"By the way, have you heard yet? Gray disappeared from his hospital room tonight."

"Disappeared?"

Rain narrowed his eyes.

"Yes. I didn't know about it myself until Lapielle told me."

"Oh, that elf, Lapielle?"

"You know her? Even among elves, she has exceptionally good hearing. And she's always been curious about the news and rumors walking around the academy..."

Rain couldn't help but think it was very much like her as Ael continued.

"Anyway, rumor has it that no one was able to find any trace of him in the empty hospital room. Gray just vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind."

"It's like he vanished into thin air..."

Rain muttered, gathering his thoughts.

'Did he have another trump card up his sleeve?'

The Ring of Return was already a powerful enough artifact, could he wield something else?

And the system didn't talk about anything else.

'I don't know about the other, but I have to get the Ring of Return away from him before he makes a mess of things.'

Before this, Gray had been in the academy's hospital room and was expected to spend a lot more time there, so Rain wasn't worried, but things were different now.

Letting him walk around freely with such a dangerous thing didn't seem like a good idea. Especially in his sorry state.

Deciding to think of a way to do it as soon as he was done with his mother, Rain returned to the conversation.

"To summarize, one of the wounded finalists of the Tournament went missing and the academy was never able to find him. Sounds like they screwed up big time."

"Yeah. It's not publicized right now, but sooner or later it will come to light."

Rain looked curiously at the Elven Princess walking beside him.

While Gray and Cale were Heroes, she was supposed to be one of the Heroines.

He wondered what she thought of the whole situation, so he asked bluntly.

"Do you think there's something dangerous going on with him?"

But her reaction was very different from his expectations.

"No. What difference does it make? Right now he's in a state where he can barely walk. I mean after his... khhm... kin continuation thing was broken..."

Silent for a while, she let the awkward silence hang before continuing.

"Maybe he was snatched by the Demon Worshippers for one of their Rituals? I've heard that they value young men with talented blood very much."

"...Yes. Perhaps. If I were a Demon Worshipper, I would have grabbed him first."

'So something really has changed a lot. Could it have been part of my influence on this world?'

Laughing to himself, Rain let his hand slide down her slim waist.

"Since we won the Tournament, don't you think we should celebrate that?"

His words and actions made her blush slightly, but she soon froze. The embarrassment was gone from her face as she pulled part of his shirt to herself and sniffed it.

What is that smell?

Elves not only had excellent hearing, but also a very keen sense of smell.

Ael took another sniff, thinking she was wrong, but no matter how many times she sniffed, the conclusion remained the same.

It was the scent of a woman.

Not a light scent belonging to a young girl, so the option of his sisters falls away... Rather the rich scent of a mature woman.

Her eyebrows furrowed in a deep frown.

Who could it be?

Ael stared at Rain and opened her mouth a couple times, but eventually closed it as she didn't know what to say.

And what's the big deal that he smelled like another woman?

Not that they were close enough to worry about such things. And yet, she couldn't name the exact reason for this feeling in her.

Could it have been because of that incident?

When, after fighting the crushingly powerful Rift Monster, she had given Rain some of her Pure Energy. A special kind of energy that elves gather throughout their lives, nurture and cherish in their bodies.

It wouldn't be surprising to feel attached to him because of it.

But... that case was a temporary necessity, she only did it because it was the most efficient way, nothing more.

After all, Rain had saved her life more than once that day. She only repaid him for it.

So Aelorian firmly rejected that option.

Thinking about the feeling once more, she seemed to understand its nature.

In fact, it wasn't the first time she'd felt this way.

It was like... as if the prey she was hunting had suddenly become someone else's prey.

The hunter instinct inherent in all elves was especially pronounced in Aelorian.

Ever since she was a child, when it came to hunting... She never missed her prey.

Her look at him changed as her eyes flashed with unknown emotion.

...?

Rain's eyebrows rose upward slightly.

'Isn't that... the way I sometimes look at someone I want to eat?'

"Rain, how about we take a little trip to my homeland over the vacations?"

Her voice, even clearer and more enchanting than before, rang in his head.

Rain couldn't relate her current state to the way he had hugged Celestia before their parting, so he just dismissed it.

"You mean Cultural Vacations that are being talked about in the academy right now?"

Unlike normal vacations, this was a special event aimed at learning about the cultures of other races.

"...Yes, that's exactly it."

Though there was something different about her answer, Rain just nodded nonchalantly.

"Of course, I was just thinking about how to spend my vacation."

An unusual smile appeared on Ael's lips.

"Then it's settled."

***

Thank you for reading, everyone.

Special thanks to Yuri_IsNTR for the Dragon.