The Main Heroines are Trying to Kill Me
Chapter 283: Rotten Salmon

༺ Rotten Salmon ༻

“F-Frey.”

With a flustered and pale face, Clana looked at Frey and whispered.

“L-Let’s go back. Let’s take a breather for a while…”

“But you said it’s urgent.”

“Well, now that I think about it, I don’t think it’s that urgent. L-Let’s have some snacks over there…”

“I’m fine, let’s keep going.”

As Frey’s eyes brimmed with a lot of malice, Clana tried to move in the opposite direction. However, Frey remained calm and continued to move forward.

“Try this~! It’s a salmon sandwich!”

However, Frey soon stopped in his tracks.

“…It’s delicious.”

“Right? Isn’t it tasty?”

He saw his sister, who quickly turned away after looking at him, sharing sandwiches on a bench with Ruby.

“Everyone, come and try it, too! I prepared enough for everyone to share!”

Ruby started handing out sandwiches to passing students, while Frey watched the scene in a daze.

“Wow! It’s really good!”

“Did you make it yourself, Hero?”

The freshmen accepted the sandwiches with bright expressions.

“Yes, I made them myself!”

Ruby smiled at each of them as she handed out sandwiches, then she crept toward Aria and asked.

“By the way, you’re eating really well, aren’t you? Do you really like salmon that much?”

“Ah, yes. I really love salmon.”

“Wow, what a coincidence! My favorite food is also salmon!”

Ruby looked surprised and clapped her hands, then tapped her fingers on the bench as if she was in a very good mood and began to talk.

“Did you know salmon symbolizes healthy life and happiness?”

“Really?”

“The way they struggle against the current of the stream, trying to make their way up the waterfall, is wonderful and beautiful… You can just picture it, right?”

The surrounding people nodded in agreement.

“To capture such a beautiful creature struggling for its goal and eating it is…”

Ruby’s eyes twinkled as she rambled on about salmon, but then the corner of her mouth twitched up as she suddenly glanced at Frey holding hands with Clana from a distance, and she muttered.

“…thrilling.”

“Pardon?”

“I find it ironic. That’s why I always resolve not to stop midway whenever I eat salmon.”

Ruby quickly changed the subject when the students were looking puzzled, but she soon covered her mouth and smiled when the students nodded in realization.

“Frey, let’s go. Don’t pay them any mind.”

“…Okay.”

Frey was oblivious to Ruby’s actions and was focused only on Aria quietly eating her salmon sandwich, and he only began moving after Clana had urged him to.

“Ah, Professor Frey!”

However, Ruby called out to Frey with a sandwich in her hand.

“…”

A cold silence settled on the side of the street.

“Would you like to come over and have a salmon sandwich?”

Amidst the silence, Ruby asked with a bright look on her face. Frey sighed and replied softly.

“I don’t like salmon.”

“Oh? I didn’t know that.”

Ruby looked disappointed after hearing his response, then she got up with her sandwich bag.

“Everyone, shall we sit there and eat?”

With that, she pulled out the mat she had prepared.

“Hero! Let me help you!”

“Please give me the basket, I’ll carry it.”

“Should we prepare the food next time? It doesn’t seem right for the Hero to do this…”

The students quickly gathered around her.

The Horizon sisters divided the task of carrying the basket and mat.

The aide adjusted her glasses and asked a question.

The Count’s daughter and a group of freshmen followed behind them.

Then, Vener and Alice approached from a distance and joined them, and even Aishi, who looked reluctant, quietly joined the group.

Frey’s expression hardened slightly as the peaceful, harmonious group gave him a cold look as they walked past him.

“…”

At that moment Frey slightly tightened his grip on Clana’s hand as Aria passed by him with a blank face.

“I don’t like salmon.”

But then, Glare, who was watching the whole scene, leaned against Frey’s side and spoke.

“I don’t like people who eat salmon either!”

Hearing this, Ruby and Aria momentarily stopped.

“Is that so~? That’s a shame.”

“…”

Ruby responded in a soft voice. And for some reason, Aria glanced at Glare leaning against Frey with bitter eyes.

“But…”

– Kugugugu…

At that moment, as Ruby was about to speak again, Clana whispered to Ruby with a menacing look on her face.

“Shut your mouth before I shove salmon down your throat.”

“…Oh my, how scary.”

Even though Clana’s Aura of Domination was directed only at Ruby, the whole street trembled.

“Ack!?”

“Ahhhh…”

As Aria and Glare were taken aback and staggered from the sudden tremor, Ruby and Clana exchanged fierce glares.

– Not bad for someone meant to be a sacrifice. Even compared to that fallen woman’s eyes…

– Sizzle, sizzle…

“Alright, I got it.”

Ruby sent a telepathic message with an approving look, but as Clana began to gather solar mana in her right hand, Ruby chuckled and retreated.

” I can’t even attack back anyway.”

“What?”

“You look especially beautiful today, Aria!”

Ruby then cheekily continued her conversation with Aria.

“What else do you like besides salmon? I’m curious!”

“Well, that is…”

“Speak slowly. I need to memorize everything if I’m going to make it myself.”

The two walked away as they talked.

“No matter how much I think about it, it’s too cruel to catch and eat salmon.”

Glare carefully dusted off her hands and stood up as she looked at them, and then she clung close to Frey and continued talking.

“After all the effort the salmon make to reach their goal, only to be caught before they can lay their eggs… it’s so pitiful.”

“…Yeah.”

“So, I wish the salmon could reach upstream without getting caught!”

Frey frowned and asked.

“Then, is it okay to catch and eat them after they reach their goal?”

“Hmm… Once they reach it…”

Glare pondered about it for a moment, then replied with a cute smile.

“I’ll raise them!”

“Ha.”

Frey chuckled at her absurd answer and instinctively patted her head.

“…Hehe.”

Glare was surprised at first, but then she smiled proudly, welcoming his touch.

“Y-You. H-Hands off my friend!”

“…?”

Clana flinched at the sight and belatedly pretended to be hostile, and the two tilted their heads in confusion.

“…Well, anyway, let’s hurry.”

“Oh, okay!”

After a short while, Frey, who had been patting Glare’s head while blankly watching the joyful picnic, quickly let go of his hand.

“Hey, where are you going now…”

“Don’t follow me.”

“Eek.”

As Glare attempted to follow him again, Frey issued a command in a low voice.

“So this is the slave’s seal! Fascinating!”

Glare, forced to change her direction, looked down at her body with curious eyes and said.

“So now, I belong to the Professor?”

“I’m saying this because I know. I’m sure. A hundred percent. Uhh…”

At the same time, Clana mumbled as she stuck close to Frey, while he looked regretfully at Glare walking away, gently caressing the hand that had been stroking her head.

“Hey, there!”

Then Ruby’s voice echoed again.

“Enough…”

Frey gritted his teeth and turned around, but Ruby was looking elsewhere.

“Do you want some salmon sandwiches?”

Ruby offered a salmon sandwich to Miho, who had been observing the situation on a bench while talking to someone through a communication crystal, with a kind smile.

“What… H-human? Are you a human?”

Miho was about to respond bluntly, but soon frowned and asked.

“P-Pardon?”

“You’re not a human. You smell strange. I’ve smelled this foul stench before.”

Ruby was puzzled, then froze at what followed Miho’s words.

“M-Maybe you’re mistaking it for the smell of salmon?”

“…Do you like it? Rotten salmon sandwiches?”

“N-No…”

Miho questioned her with a dull expression and scratched her head as she walked past them.

“Oh no… my sandwiches have gone bad…”

“I’ll swap with you, Hero!”

“No, take mine…”

“Weird humans. Why do you like rotten food?”

Hearing the comments behind her, Miho frowned and mumbled about food.

“Fermented foods are better for you. Like cabbage kimchi, or radish peppers… Anyway, Eastern continental fermented foods are the best… Eek!”

She made eye contact with Frey, who had been watching her quietly, and she quickly covered her face with her tail.

“G-Go away, human!”

After freezing for a moment, she shrieked and left in a hurry.

“What’s with her… Where did she come from… Now I’m even being pushed around by someone I’ve barely met…”

“That girl, her tail seems longer…”

While Clana mumbled with a soulless gaze, Frey observed Miho walking away with a sharp look.

“She’s an interesting person…”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing, let’s go.”

Frey, who had been muttering to himself as he stared into the empty space, quietly resumed walking.

– Step…

After walking uneventfully for a while, Frey stopped for a moment.

“Hmm.”

In his line of sight came Roswyn’s pale face, her head down.

“She’s too thin. Didn’t she get the flowers?”

“What is she holding in her hand?”

“Huh?”

Frey, momentarily puzzled, then quietly stared at the flower in Roswyn’s hand.

“Aha.”

Frey spoke with a bitter smile.

“It was red.”

“Red?”

Hearing his words, Clana tilted her head, and Frey murmured with a wry smile.

“The color of Roswyn’s favorite flower was red.”

“…Oh, I see.”

Clana quietly responded with lowered eyes, and they began to walk slowly.

“I finally figured it out.”

Frey mumbled in a dry voice as he crossed the empty street across from Roswyn, holding Clana’s hand.

He had already noticed Ruby’s eyes watching him carefully and had no choice but to make this decision.

– Swish…

Roswyn had been watching Frey through the helper system without even looking up, she quietly buried her face in her knees upon seeing his choice.

“If it’s a flower from you…”

Though she wanted to run to Frey and hold him, she couldn’t approach him due to the restrictions placed on her, and Ruby’s piercing gaze from afar prevented her from saying anything. So, she just mumbled with her head buried in her knees.

“…anything would be fine.”

Clana, whom she had always looked down upon and often talked to impolitely, was now confidently walking beside Frey. She looked exceptionally radiant to her

“Anything… even grass would be fine…”

The rose in her hand drooped lifelessly as she spoke.

– Screech…

Shortly after, a carriage sped away from the orientation site.

.

.

.

.

.

Right after Frey’s carriage left the orientation site.

“Ugh, sob…”

Sitting on the bench, Roswyn buried her head in her knees and cried.

“Memo… fox-eared beastkin is a potential ally… consider recruiting her as an ally… Hmm?”

Noticing her while diligently noting down her observations, Glare tilted her head and cautiously approached her.

“Hey, are you crying?”

“Huuu…”

“Don’t cry, please.”

Glare gently patted her back.

“…Hmm.”

Soon, her eyes narrowed as another system window appeared in front of her.

“Ahhh!”

As Glare was about to reach for the system window.

“N-No!!”

“Eek?”

As Roswyn exclaimed and leaped from her seat, Glare stepped back in shock.

“D-Don’t look at it now… No… I’ll show you later…”

“Okay?”

“A-Anyway, go away. Just go…”

Knowing that Glare didn’t have her immunity from the penalty, Roswyn started to step back hastily.

“S-Stop!”

What followed was an unexpected chase.

“Pant, pant… D-Don’t follow me…”

“Why are you hiding it? What’s in there…”

After some time, the two girls were getting exhausted.

“Hey there.”

“…!”

Ruby appeared with a basket of sandwiches in front of them.

“Do you want to have a sandwich with us?”

As Ruby offered sandwiches from the basket, a brief silence fell.

“…Alright.”

“Then, follow me.”

Glare answered softly and began to follow Ruby as she held Roswyn, whose face had turned pale.

“I-I’ll kill her, definitely… I’ll definitely kill her… No matter what, I’ll make her pay for what she’s done…”

“Hmm…”

As Roswyn glared at Ruby’s back with hatred, resentment, and despair, Glare stopped for a moment.

“Are you coming?”

“Yes, I’ll be right there…”

Roswyn eagerly turned back to the system window and fiddled with it, then she muttered in a low voice.

“… Rotten salmon.”

And so, the casual outing of the Hero-less Hero Party began.

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