The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

“So.”

Asel pressed his throbbing forehead with his hand while staring at Elena, who was sucking on a blood pack.

“You need someone to go to the auction with you, right?”

Her sudden declaration asking him to be her lover. The background wasn’t about romantic feelings or love, but a request to participate as her partner in the auction being held this evening. An underground auction on Academy grounds where only couples can enter. She came like this because there was something she needed to buy there.

“That’s right!”

The auction on Academy grounds. A legal branch operated by the Leonhard merchant group and a distribution center where all sorts of items gather. A warehouse of relics eagerly seeking owners, filled with various tools prepared exclusively for Academy affiliates.

Asel had only heard about this place. He knew the auction existed but had never visited. It wasn’t just that he was too lazy to go, but he didn’t particularly need anything. Unless some extraordinary magical tool came up, according to the rumors he’d heard, the highest quality item recently was a griffin’s feather.

Of course, even that wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Griffin feathers, widely used in alchemy and as magic catalysts, are so expensive that they easily surpass hundreds of gold coins in price. However, Asel simply didn’t need it.

So he had been living without interest, but suddenly Elena came asking him to go together.

It seems a new item that caught her interest has come up for auction. Asel asked her what it was. Elena leaned her upper body slightly forward and answered:

“A Blood-Drinking Dagger! A dagger that gets stronger the more blood it absorbs! I thought it would be better to have a weapon I can handle directly rather than creating weapons with blood every time I fight!”

A Blood-Drinking Dagger. It was certainly a weapon well-suited for Elena, a vampire. Since vampires can freely control the frenzy that comes from craving blood, it would clearly be better for her to have it rather than some mediocre swordsman.

However, what was puzzling was, surely the Valdemia Principality must have had all sorts of weapons stored away, so why didn’t she bring those?

Well, never mind. She must have her reasons. It’s foolish to seriously ponder someone else’s family affairs.

Asel dismissed the question that had arisen and nodded at Elena.

“Alright. I’ll cooperate. What time and where should I go?”

He was bored anyway, and since it had come to this, he might as well take a look at the auction. Asel gladly accepted Elena’s request. Elena’s eyes sparkled as she jumped up from her seat.

“You’re really going to help? Wow, thank you! I knew I could count on you!”

Elena leaped to Asel’s side and hugged his upper body. It was an unexpected skinship, but since it was Elena, it didn’t particularly move him. It felt like being clung to by a friendly large dog.

Still, it wasn’t unpleasant, so Asel smiled slightly and ruffled Elena’s hair vigorously. Even with her hair messed up, Elena showed no signs of disliking it and enjoyed his touch.

After a moment. Elena, with her body pressed close to Asel’s and leaning her upper body, looked up at him with blood-red pupils and opened her mouth.

“Come out to the square at 6 PM. Dress as nicely as possible! The dress code today is suits and dresses!”
“Is that so? I’ll have to wear something appropriate then.”
“I’m going to wear a black dress. You wear a black suit too!”
“Alright.”

Asel smiled faintly and tapped Elena’s pointed ear with his fingertip. Then, a curiosity suddenly occurred to him, so he asked her:

“But why me specifically? You could have asked someone else.”
“Oh, that?”

Elena turned towards Asel with a bright smile.

“You’re the only guy I’m close to!”

The Academy grounds were quite lively even in the evening. The streets were bustling with students enjoying the weekend, and shops with colorful lights were brightly shining, driving away the darkness. Asel sat on a bench in the campus square, blankly watching the scene.

Perhaps because he had been through a lot recently, while enjoying such a peaceful atmosphere, he couldn’t help but feel anxious that something might suddenly happen. Although being sensitive is better than being insensitive to danger, even Asel himself felt it was a bit excessive.

Still, once he became aware of it, it gradually subsided, and after a few minutes, he could purely enjoy the Academy’s night scenery.

“What are you going to do about the midterms? Have you reviewed the problems the professors told us about?”
“Let’s make sure we don’t lose in this year’s inter-grade competition, everyone! We have to beat the freshmen at least!”
“Sa-Sara… I recently started liking someone…”

Students chattering about various topics. The noise of street vendors calling out to passersby to stop by, and people shouting happily upon finding friends, resonated softly in Asel’s ears.

‘This is youth.’

Asel held a warm smile while thinking such thoughts like an old man. At that moment, a familiar face walking towards the square entered his vision.

“Where is he……”

Her usually low-tied snow-white hair was now freely flowing. A red flower ornament was placed in her hair, and a black obsidian decoration hung from the tip of her pointed ear.

She was wearing a black dress that minimized exposure. Except for the upper chest covered by a semi-transparent black fabric, the only exposed skin was her shoulders, collarbone, and thighs revealed by the side-slit skirt.

However, that alone was not enough to hide her figure. Although the material wasn’t skin-tight, the fabric was taut around her chest and hips. The waist area seemed to have some extra room, as the dress swayed side to side with each step.

In contrast to her explosive figure, her face without makeup exuded a fresh, girlish feeling.

Her appearance was enough to momentarily captivate even Asel’s gaze, who had grown up seeing many women. He stared at her blankly, wondering if this was really the same puppy-like Elena. As if sensing his gaze, Elena, who had been looking around, spotted him and smiled brightly.

“You came early? Did you wait long?”
“…No. Not long.”

Asel stood up and answered Elena’s question as she walked over.

Elena looked up at him and exclaimed in admiration.

“Ooh…! You look even more handsome when you dress up?”
“You look pretty too.”
“Hehe. Thank you!”

Asel burst into a smile seeing her beaming face.

It was a smile that always felt good to see. She looked too harmless to be a different species that feeds on human blood. One might suspect that she had evolved this way to sink her teeth into necks.

It was a useless digression. Asel tapped the back of his head where his hair was neatly swept back, then looked at Elena and asked:

“So? Where do we go?”
“Follow me! Let’s go right away!”

Elena exclaimed while grabbing Asel’s hand. Asel obediently followed her lead.

The hand holding his was colder than expected. Being a vampire with a naturally low body temperature, he could feel his own body heat being stolen in real-time. And as if enjoying that sensation, Elena let out a nasal sound and shuddered.

“It’s so waaaaarm……”
“You like it?”
“I like it! Hold my other hand too.”
“Alright, alright.”

Asel smiled and held out his hand, and Elena switched positions to grip his hand tightly with her right hand this time. A cool sensation flowed up Asel’s arm, and warm energy penetrated Elena’s entire body. They moved towards the auction site, both with slight smiles blooming from the pleasant coolness and warmth.

Then suddenly, Elena opened her mouth:

“Ah, right. I didn’t tell you this.”
“…? What is it?”
“Usually, you can enter the auction alone, but this time it’s specially open only to couples? They say it’s because a lot of good items for couples have come in.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“So we have to pretend to be a couple the whole time we’re at the auction! Otherwise we might get kicked out!”
“You mean we have to act?”
“Yep!”

Elena nodded vigorously. Asel let out a small sigh, then soon smiled and nodded.

“Leave it to me.”

Asel was quite confident in his acting. He had seen over 10 performances in Weiheim. Quite a few of them had love as their theme, so it would be enough to just imitate the behavior patterns of the actors in those.

Let’s go with the concept of a cold man who’s warm to his woman. That was the role played by a supporting actor who was more popular than the lead.

Just as Asel was making this resolution and starting to hypnotize himself internally, Elena muttered softly with a thoughtful look:

“But what exactly is a couple like?”
“Haven’t you ever dated anyone?”
“Nope. I was cooped up in the castle in the principality, and my dad rejected all engagement offers. I’ve never even had a proper conversation with a man besides my dad and brothers.”
“Seems like they cherish you quite a bit.”
“Is that so? But Asel, have you ever dated a girl?”
“I’ve received a lot of confessions, but I rejected them all, so never.”
“Ooh… We’re comrades then?”
“I guess so.”

Elena hugged Asel’s arm and smiled with a “hehe”.

“Is this good enough for couple-like behavior for now? In plays and such, I saw women clinging to men’s arms like this.”
“Do whatever feels comfortable. I’ll adapt to you. Or do you want to do as I say?”

At Asel’s suggestion, Elena nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

“Sure.”

I want to die.

Right now, I want to drown myself in a bucket of water. Then I wouldn’t have to see these damned couples.

Nigel thought this while handing a ticket to a woman with an expressionless face.

“You may enter.”
“Thank you. Let’s go, honey.”
“Okay.”

A neatly dressed man and woman pass by Nigel and enter the auction hall. Nigel watches their retreating figures, then contorts his face and pulls at his hair.

‘Why am I here doing this even though I’m single!’

It had been hours since he had let dozens of couples into the auction hall. His mind, which was fine at first, was gradually being shattered. Seeing lovey-dovey couples continuously made his insides boil with rage. Why on earth did they set the auction entry conditions like this for some couple items? The more he thought about it, the more his rebellious feelings towards the auction owner surged.

Why did he have to be in charge of the auction entrance on a day like this, damn it.

As Nigel was thinking this and shedding tears, another set of customers appeared from across.

He immediately regained his professional consciousness and greeted the customers with an expressionless face, standing at attention.

“Is this the place?”
“Yep!”

Once again, it was a male-female couple without fail. However, the appearance of these two was incomparably superior to the people who had visited so far. Not just the man, but the woman also exuded a cute yet sensual atmosphere.

Nigel blankly stared at the woman, her appearance enough to captivate any man’s gaze. Meanwhile, the couple continued to approach and stood in front of Nigel, expressing their intention to enter the auction.

“Hello. We’d like to enter.”
“…Wow.”

Up close, her beauty shone even more. Delicate features gathered on pale skin and blood-red eyes. And long white hair reaching her hips gave her a mysterious aura.

A sense of being distant even though she was close. At the moment Nigel stared intently at her.

Whoosh!

The man pulled the woman into his arms and revealed killing intent towards Nigel.

“Do you have some business with my woman?”

Seeing him completely absorbed in the concept, Nigel hurriedly came to his senses and bowed.

“…Hohere?”

On the other hand, Elena, with flushed cheeks, uttered strange sounds as if she had lost her language ability.