A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 288 I Want to Eat You

"Mr. Quinn."

"what happened?"

"I like you."

The scene of the day he confessed his feelings is still vivid in Quinn's memory.

They were so similar. He couldn't see his own expression, but he was probably smiling. He felt extremely calm about the outcome, completely unsurprised, only a slight sense of absurdity that he couldn't laugh at, and a hint of secret joy that he absolutely refused to admit.

On the school rooftop, cumulus clouds painted the sky white like large blocks of color in an oil painting. The wind blew across the city of rivers and seas, and her hair fluttered lightly, outlining the shape of the wind in young Quinn's eyes.

Mi Yutong fiddled with her hair, her expression unchanged, and almost subconsciously replied, "I'll think about it."

The voice was so low it was impossible to tell whether it was joy or embarrassment.

But Quinn knew he had succeeded.

It sounded like a rejection, but he could see that the girl's neck was as red as the autumn sun, almost red down to her calves.

That scene was still vividly etched in Quinn's mind. He found it adorable, yet he also felt incredibly pathetic, letting the hormones of puberty influence him and reminding himself why he had confessed.

He was tempted, but he wanted to make his natural smile seem forced. He needed to calm himself down and face reality.

That conflicting feeling, that lovely girl, seemed to have crossed the curtain of the world, reappearing once again.

This time, he was the one being confessed to.

Not long after he confessed his feelings to Mi Yutong, he received a long string of QQ replies, worded in a formal and official manner.

It's like expanding a trivial matter like frying tomatoes and eggs into 600 words, cutting off the beginning and end, extracting the central idea, and leaving only "This young lady agrees".

I spent about half an afternoon and half an evening thinking about it, and replied at 2 a.m. I pretended that I didn't care too much and said, "I'm going to sleep now, goodnight." Then I went to school the next day with dark circles under my eyes bigger than the moon.

Now it's Quinn's turn.

Let me think about it?
How long should we consider this? Half an afternoon and half an evening, or like the protagonists in "5 Centimeters Per Second," ten years, waiting for her to become the Queen of Britain, for him to become the demon hero who kills the hero, and for them to no longer be able to see each other on the other side of the railway?

Just like with Chaldale—

Saying things like "I have someone I like" seems responsible, but it's actually just being a jerk.

He felt her body temperature, her heartbeat, and the tense breath she exhaled was so close to the skin on the back of his neck, like a deer leaping across a snowfield.

“I know,” Quinn replied.

He turned his head and spun around in her slender arms. They looked at each other, and Celia's eyes were clear yet wavering. He couldn't tell where this feeling of love came from.

Quinn nestled his head against her chest. Celia was very tall, and standing in front of Quinn as he sat, she hugged him, creating a strange, sisterly atmosphere.

Quinn did not respond to her embrace, but simply buried his head to hide his expression and prevent the girl who was looking down at him so close from noticing anything.

His body temperature was getting hotter and hotter, his tender skin pressed against his thin bones, his chest was small, and he could hear his heart pounding.

"Mr. Quinn."

Her cool, tea-brown hair fell down, tickling Quinn's neck. Her eyes, beneath her long lashes, seemed to understand something; she watched him quietly, waiting for what would happen next.

The girl's chest smelled wonderful, with a faint, pleasant fragrance. However, humans don't have a natural body odor, so the fact that she smelled so appealing suggests that the brain and body had chosen this girl.

The already quiet office was now filled only with the sound of their breathing. Across a thousand years, the ancient sages of divination in the oil painting watched with a heavy heart as they spied on the immoral scene between the teacher and student. Their actions had already crossed the line of morality; it was so ambiguous, yet the boundaries were clearly defined.

"Your dream isn't real."

“I know,” Celia said.

“It’s not true,” Quinn repeated.

“But Xiaoqian’s feelings are genuine.”

Just saying those words seemed to have exhausted all her courage.

"That's just an illusion you're experiencing because of your dream."

"It's not an illusion."

"It's the influence of the abyss. You need to forget those things."

"no."

"I know, I'll figure something out. You'll be alright."

"What do you know?"

"Your dream is not finished."

Quinn broke free from her embrace, stood up, and his expression finally returned to normal, becoming the gentle yet formidable Mr. Quinn that Celia knew.

"If you dream about the end, then I'm doomed. I don't want Xiaoxi to hate me."

He gazed at her calmly, a relaxed smile on his face.

"Let's practice again tomorrow, that's enough for today."

“…” Celia gritted her teeth, like a stubborn wildcat staring at its prey.

Don't overthink it, I like you too.

He put one arm around Celia, not in a romantic way like a couple, but rather like an older teacher embracing a younger student; Celia could only be led away by him.

"That's precisely why I can't accept it."

“I can’t let you become like the one in my dream, Akane. I don’t know what will happen after that, but it’s definitely not a good thing.”

“In my dreams.” Celia repeated the two words softly, a hint of wavering appearing on her previously resolute expression.

"Are you saying I'll be corrupted by the abyss?"

I hope not.

The two left the office.

Quinn's arm remained draped over the girl's shoulder.

Just then, a teacher from the Demon Clan's Defense Department walked by, and he was fairly familiar with Quinn. Seeing this, the old man raised an eyebrow at Quinn, winking as if to say, "Impressive."

Quinn ignored him and walked forward with his arm around Celia.

"The Abyss Infection and the loss of control by superhumans are very similar. Initially, both involve blurring the lines between dreams and reality, and then the symptoms gradually worsen."

"The difference is that the latter ends with the supernatural characteristics crowding out the soul, turning the person into a madman or something more dangerous. The end result of the abyss's corruption is that the soul is dragged into the abyss and can never wake up again."

Do you remember what my name was in your dream?

Celia immediately replied, "Quinn. Not Mr. Quinn, but Quinn."

Quinn patted her on the shoulder.

"If your dream is real, then I shouldn't be called this name. It should be Qin something... two or three characters, like Qin Laolang, Qin RVC, or something like that, who knows?"

"I will resolve your dream, I promise."

"After the re-examination, the school doctor said I was not contaminated by the abyss."

What did I call you in the dream?

Celia hesitated for a long time before uttering two syllables that did not belong to the Taymuri language.

“yutong”.

“Nice name,” Quinn shrugged. “What a mediocre school doctor.”

"But I stopped dreaming yesterday."

Yesterday, Celia concluded her second trip to the Forbidden Forest.

"That's good. It means your pollution isn't getting worse. Where were you in your dream?"

Celia looked at his face.

I want to say that in my dreams you are old and gray, and we have many children. Those happy sounds seem to come from the most distant world.

“We got together,” she said vaguely.

"It's not too late."

Quinn nodded. "There's still time." "Isn't the Abyss corruption unsolvable?"

"That's just something that humans can't solve." He hummed a Doraemon song. "It's okay, I'll have a solution by this time tomorrow."

"Mr. Quinn."

Celia stopped in her tracks.

"Ok?"

"If the pollution of the abyss could truly be cured..."

"Then I can become the Dean, and the arcane world should award me the Merlin Award."

“I mean—” Just looking into the girl’s eyes, Quinn’s feigned ease crumbled, “What if I still like you after the Abyss corruption is cured?”

Quinn nodded calmly, as if he were listening to a student ask a good question in class:
"I know, I know that students will always have a variety of feelings towards their teachers."

Celia gazed at him intently. Outside the window on one side of the corridor, the sky was vast and empty, and the scene of clouds and dusk blending together was just like the view in the girl's eyes—a color as persistent as fire.

"And what about my teacher?"

Quinn averted his gaze.

"They come in all shapes and sizes."

“Mr. Quinn, Xiaoxi is angry.”

"Tsk. No more 'Xingxing', is that alright?"

Celia was taken aback, then her pretty face flushed slightly.

All kinds of feelings. Without 'all kinds', there would only be...
“Mr. Quinn, please explain more clearly!” She craned her neck, determined to get an answer.

Quinn sighed.

“I’m happy to be with you, not just because teachers like well-behaved students, not just because of the piano, not just because you’re cute.” These words almost came out of his mouth.

"I had a very difficult time for a period of time."

He hugged the girl, but this time it wasn't the polite hug a teacher gives a student; it was an aggressive hug, as if he wanted to meld her into his body.

"I'm worried, scared, and confused. I have no one I can trust, and even my best friend isn't necessarily a friend. Every night before I go to sleep, I worry about whether I'll see the sun rise the next day."

"But when I'm with you, I can relax. Isn't that amazing? I find it incredible too, but that's just how it is. Seeing your smile makes me feel wonderful. So I'm so glad to have met you, like a ray of light."

“Mr. Quinn,” Celia blushed deeply at these words, “I…I didn’t know what you were talking about.”

"That's 99% emotion."

Quinn leaned close to her ear, "The remaining one percent is about eating you."

"Mr. Quinn is a complete pervert."

She scolded softly, but her voice was filled with barely suppressed joy.

"So, I'll be even more anxious than you after I'm cured."

"But before that, focus on learning arcane arts and practicing the piano, and don't overthink it. Remember, always remember that."

None of those are true.

"You are Celia."

"Instead of Yutong."

"You are just Celia."

The bottom floor of the stairwell is upside down.

"Mambo~"

The puppet school doctor, using an unknown voice pack, saw the door suddenly pushed open. The newcomer had a grim expression, as if he wanted to devour someone.

"Oh, Mama, Encourage Man—"

"Give me Celia's treatment records."

Quinn interrupted the school doctor's ramblings and reached out to it without saying a word.

"Oh, it's already closing time, Mr. Quinn." The straw-filled smile was eerie, and the doll slowly said to him, "Celia's file has been upgraded by Dean Stephens and is now controlled property of the academy. Even her homeroom teacher, Mr. Cavendish, needs permission from the administration office to view it—"

"What permission?" Quinn asked impatiently.

"I don't think you'll be able to get it. Specifically, it requires the signatures of at least two deans, or the dean himself."

The "signature" mentioned by the school doctor is not simply signing a name.

Instead, they had to use a special ink mixed with the manna of the deans themselves to pass the Nibelungen's verification.

Quinn had done so much paperwork for Amamiya Nene that he was very familiar with the academy's rules. No matter how much he pleaded, or even if the school doctor agreed, they couldn't bypass the proper channels to obtain controlled items.

The controller of controlled items is none other than the Nibelungen defensive magic circle that surrounds the academy, the largest workshop in humankind.

“As the school doctor, I feel it is necessary to remind you, Mr. Quinn.”

The school doctor's voice, which sounded like a Tang Dynasty man's, was quite unsettling, but his words carried a deep warning: "You need to rest. You'd better take some sedatives and get some sleep right away."

"You look terrible, your pupils are dilated, and you're sweating profusely. The unconscious hand movements indicate that you are in a state of anxiety, restlessness, and emotional fluctuation. This is not a good sign for a superhuman."

"—Try my mana."

Quinn ignored the school doctor's warning and extended his right hand.

The school doctor cautioned, "You are only a senior teaching assistant. Your authority in the college is only higher than students and other teaching assistants, unless you obtain prior permission."

"try it."

A section of the straw rope, like a snake, crawled up the tabletop; this was the straw rope connecting the doll to the depths of the school clinic.

"Grip it tight and inject the mana."

Quinn picked up the rope, closed his eyes, and focused.

He was not an arcane mage, and even though he consciously trained every day, he could not use arcane magic effectively except for the 'Immobilize Charm'.

However, if it's just a small amount of mana, it's still possible to do so thanks to the mental strength of a Sequence 7 and Merlin's magic circuits.

However, her conversion efficiency is far inferior to that of other arcane masters, and even inferior to that of Celia.

His mental energy flowed like tendrils through Merlin's intricate arm circuitry, a circuitry that was only equipped with a immobilization spell, but even with Quinn's endoscopic precision, he could not fully decipher it.

Like a wisp of wind exhaling from a vast forest, a tiny drop of mana is separated from the fingertip.

Soak the straw rope.

A stinging sensation shot through his brain; even such a tiny amount of mana felt to Quinn like electricity was being used to power nuclear energy.

Because his eyes were closed, he failed to see the puppet shudder as if it had crashed.

When I opened my eyes again, a thick booklet about the school clinic was already on the table.

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief; it actually worked.

So Hermes really did promote his authority internally? Good old Deng.

He opened the medical record book.

The time and place of the last abyss fall were meticulously recorded, including everyone's accounts, the professors' speculations, and the school doctor's conclusions.
[A dream resembling an experience from the abyss, it is dynamic, highly immersive, but does not affect reality.]

Apart from this, no other characteristics of abyssal infection were found.

[Examined by the Dream-Eating Lice, no curse, supernatural influence, arcane magic, sorcery, dream interference, or abyssal corruption was identified.]

[Preliminary conclusions are as follows: 1. A rare disease. 2. This dream is based on my own experience.]

What follows is a long stretch of black ink.

[July 18th, the observation period for the patient in the forest was completed.]

[As confirmed by Stephens, the possibility of abyssal contamination has been ruled out; the patient has not interfered with the abyss.]

[Pathological findings: The dream was based on the individual's own experiences. The resulting distortion may be related to the hero.]

(End of this chapter)