Chapter 459 For Fashion?

It was noon, the time for lunch.

After turning the innocent courtyard upside down with her experiments, Hulim Heyerar headed to the room adjacent to the banquet hall for her meal—and happened to run into Prarlulu, who was already there.

"Prarlulu? What a coincidence. Did you just get here for lunch?"

Hulim sat down directly across from her.

At once, the royal palace servants brought over her lunch.

"Oh, Hulim, hi there."

Prarlulu replied politely.

Hulim picked up her cutlery, then paused, staring at Prarlulu’s forehead with a puzzled look.

"Prarlulu, what happened to your forehead? Did you bump your head or something?"

At the question, Prarlulu reached up to rub her reddened forehead.

"Ow!"

A pained expression crossed her face, which quickly melted into a look of grievance.

Tossing all dining etiquette aside, she began venting to Hulim.

"Hulim, you won’t believe what they did! Aunt Irus and the others are being so unreasonable!"

"Irus? What did Irus do?"

"Do? She didn’t just do something—her behavior was straight-up devilish cruelty! A total devil!"

"Why do I have to go through all this training just because I’m the Hero?"

"Oh right—!"

"That’s exactly it! As the Hero, my duty should be to defeat demons, not this! I’m boycotting this inhumane torture! Starting this afternoon, I’m skipping classes!"

"???"

Hulim scratched her head in confusion, though she more or less got the gist.

"Is there something wrong with your training? Is it too harsh? Or too exhausting?"

After all, not long ago, Prarlulu had been someone who didn’t even know the first thing about fighting. Suddenly being thrust into the role of the Hero—maybe the training really was more than she could handle...

"Because it’s so boring!"

Prarlulu pouted, blurting out the real reason.

...Handle?

"......"

Huh?

That’s the reason?!

"And then—Aunt Irus didn’t even feel sorry for me! She just lectured me instead!"

"......So she’s the one who did that to your forehead?"

"Yep!"

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"Isn’t that terrible? Exploiting the Hero like this is unheard of! Even demons aren’t this mean!"

"......"

Is it really that terrible?

Hulim didn’t reply, silently picking up her spoon and getting ready to eat.

As for Prarlulu...

She’d leave her to Irus’s devices.

Just as Hulim lowered her head, Prarlulu—who’d been rambling on nonstop—suddenly noticed the top of her head.

"Huh? Hulim, why is a lock of your hair cut halfway?"

Hulim’s movements froze instantly, her hand holding the spoon trembling slightly.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"......Nothing."

Hulim forced herself to sound calm.

"I just thought it was getting in the way, so I cut it."

"Oh, I see—"

Prarlulu bought the lie hook, line, and sinker.

Hulim let out a silent sigh of relief, thinking to herself.

Wow, Prarlulu is way too easy to fool.

Still, that makes it easy to get out of this mess.

With that thought, she was about to lift the spoon again—when Prarlulu spoke up once more.

"If that’s the case, why didn’t you cut the whole lock off?"

Hulim’s hand froze completely in mid-air.

I forgot......

I was so caught up in my experiments that I completely overlooked that!

Am I an idiot? I should’ve just cut the whole thing off!

"Hulim?"

It’s all because I was so focused on practicing Annihilation Divine Light until I could cut my hair with it at will.

"Hey, Hulim?"

Before I knew it, I’d convinced myself that I had to use the ability to cut it!

"Hey, Hu—li—m—"

"Because......"

Hulim’s lips moved slowly.

"Hmm? What was that? Hulim, I can’t hear you very well. Can you speak up a little?"

"Because... it’s fashion."

"?"

A huge question mark appeared over Prarlulu’s head, her face blank with confusion.

"Fashion?"

"Y-yeah...... It’s a trendy new hairstyle."

"Whoa, really? That’s so cool!"

Prarlulu’s eyes lit up with excitement.

"I want one too!"

She actually believes that......

Hulim facepalmed internally.

"I never knew you were so into fashion, Hulim! You’re full of surprises!"

Under Prarlulu’s unreservedly admiring gaze, Hulim couldn’t help but feel awkward.

"Haha, well... it’s nothing."

"It’s not nothing at all! You’re just being too modest!"

"Oh right! I’m gonna go get the same hairstyle later! Then I’ll tell everyone that Hulim taught me this trendy look, and I’ll be a fashion icon too!"

"Huh?!"

Hulim’s smile froze abruptly on her face.

T-tell everyone......?

"Ah, but I don’t have hair that sticks up like yours does, Hulim."

Prarlulu reached up to pat the top of her head.

"Hmm, what should I do? Should I tie my hair up before cutting it, or maybe......"

No.

This can’t happen.

I have to stop her!

Hulim’s mind raced a mile a minute.

Think, think—there’s gotta be a way!

Just then, her eyes suddenly flickered, as if she’d sensed something, and she glanced toward the door.

An idea popped into her head instantly.

Then, putting on a calm expression, she said,

"Speaking of which...... Prarlulu, are you really going to skip class this afternoon?"

The question immediately grabbed Prarlulu’s attention.

And it also caught the attention of the person who’d just walked in the door......

"You bet I am!"

Prarlulu nodded vigorously.

"Is the training really that terrible? Terrible enough to call it devilish?"

"It is! It totally is!"

Prarlulu nodded again, even more emphatically.

"It’s like the training was designed by a demon! Especially Archbishop—she’s the worst of the worst! A demon among demons!"

"Oh, is that so?"

A cold voice suddenly rang out behind Prarlulu.

"Ah——"

Prarlulu froze rigidly, her face draining of color in an instant.

"......"

She turned her neck slowly, mechanically, to look behind her.

And found herself staring straight into the Archbishop’s very amiable-looking eyes.

"I was wondering why you hadn’t come back to rest yet, so I came to check on you—and this is what I find."

"The training is terrible, is it? You’re feeling wronged? And... I’m a demon, am I?"

With every word the Archbishop spoke, Prarlulu’s face grew paler, her body trembling more violently.

"I-I... I......"

"You what?"

The Archbishop took a step closer.

"If you’re feeling this energetic, I don’t think you need any rest at all. We might as well start this afternoon’s lessons—right now."

"A-ah......"

Prarlulu felt like her world was crumbling around her.

Before she could even react, the Archbishop grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out without a second thought.

As she was being hauled away, she shot a desperate, pleading look at Hulim.

"Help me, Hulim!"

Hulim clasped her hands together and murmured quietly.

"Rest in peace."

Surely this will make her forget all about the hairstyle thing, right?

I’m sorry, Prarlulu, but I have to throw you under the bus to avoid some really weird rumors about myself.

"Nooooooo——!"

Prarlulu’s scream of despair echoed through the royal palace.