Chapter 5: The Protagonist’s Motives
Orphe’s Background
Orphe. No surname.
For a poor serf’s child, a surname is a luxury.
A character possessed by a modern Korean, Osiu.
No reason for the possession.
Just a divine command to save the world, which he naively followed to the letter.
The result, however, was disastrous.
Unable to stop the demon horde ravaging the continent, he used the kingdom’s treasure to regress.
After regression, he exploited his advantage—boosting stats, seizing opportunities—growing far faster than in his first life.
With that growth, he aims to unite the divided academy and forge it into a single force.
For one reason: to thwart the demons’ uprising.
Also, he has sturdy thighs.
Reflections on Orphe
That’s about all I know about Orphe.
The novel didn’t describe him much, but in his first life, Orphe was quite compassionate.
Persuading, leading, uniting people…
But in the end, he ran out of time and was defeated.
Perhaps as a backlash, the regressed Orphe in his second life is cold as hell.
Beat those who disobey, beat them again, threaten them, and do whatever he pleases.
Justifying it all to stop the demons’ uprising.
The main heroine, a saintess, tries to humanize him by pointing out his flaws, but the rest are just villains or cheerleaders.
Oh, the main heroine being a saintess doesn’t mean it’s me.
Completely different person, different name, different description.
Erica, was it? No, that’s the campus name.
Anyway, judging by his behavior, the guy here is definitely the regressed Orphe.
The ruthless, cider-pathic Orphe.
A Misunderstanding
So why, why the hell, was he cradling my head?
In all the chapters I read, not once did he get cozy with a heroine.
The most affection I saw was him patting the saintess’s head, telling her not to bear everything alone.
But resting my head on his lap? On his thigh? On our first meeting?
This I can’t let slide.
“Lord Orphe.”
“…I don’t recall giving you my name.”
Oops, my bad.
I was so caught up thinking about him that his name slipped out reflexively.
I needed to cover this up before he got more suspicious.
I smiled brightly and replied in a calm tone.
“The Pantheon is a place where people from all over the world pass through. I’ve had plenty of chances to hear about the fame of the black-haired hero of the kingdom.”
‘What did I… say again?’
Oh, sht, kind-speech system, I trusted you!
I don’t know how it works, but it turned my half-assed excuse into something convincing.
…How does my speech get transformed like that?
Are the authors rewriting it for me?
Orphe’s Response
Hearing my answer, Orphe nodded slightly.
“That makes sense. The kingdom’s been shouting my existence from the rooftops.”
“By the way, may I ask why you were cradling my head?”
‘So why were you holding my head?’
Orphe stared at me intently.
What, you smitten?
To be fair, this face is pretty gorgeous.
Even I, as a guy, would’ve stared if I saw it back then.
But sorry, I’m not into guys.
Not that I’m planning to go to the academy and flirt like crazy either.
Just keeping things at a nice, no-romance level seems best, right?
Plus, being a cleric makes that super easy.
“Your face…”
Aha, I knew it. Called it.
Even back at the Pantheon, some bold idiots tried this kind of thing.
Whenever they did, I’d quietly snitch to Bishop Dominic, and they’d disappear fast.
But he’s not here now, so I’ll have to handle this myself.
I put on my most apologetic expression and said,
“I’m sorry, but as one devoted to the gods’ embrace, I cannot permit personal affections.”
‘Zero confessions, first rejection, good job.’
“…I was about to say you should wipe the blood off your face before talking.”
“What?”
What did he say?
I reflexively wiped under my nose and felt something crusty.
“You collapsed and started bleeding from your nose.”
I scraped a bit onto my palm, and it was unmistakably a dark, reddish-black bloodstain.
“I tilted your head to keep it from flowing wrong, that’s all. You’re saying some weird stuff.”
So, it wasn’t because he was interested in me?
Not even a little? Nothing at all?
Where’s a hole to crawl into?
Divine Teasing
[The God of Affection sends a standing ovation.]
[The God of Beauty laments that their carefully crafted appearance is ruined.]
[The God of Dreams is laughing their ass off.]
Why are these bastards doing this to me?
Come on, that was totally a confession moment!
Admit it, or don’t!
I don’t like guys either!
[The God of Affection laughs and agrees with your opinion.]
That jerk definitely agreed on purpose.
For a while after, the gods kept bombarding me with their takes on my embarrassing moment.
Since it’s blasted directly into my head, there’s no way to block it, which makes it even worse.
I couldn’t face Orphe, so I covered my face with my hands and curled up as much as I could.
So fcking humiliating, seriously…
The Checkpoint
“Next!”
The line of people moved slowly forward.
To enter Inemis Academy, you had to pass through the gateway city of Hazburg.
Since the academy lies on the border between the empire and the kingdom, the security at this gateway city was quite strict.
Of course, Orphe and I, with our impeccable status, breezed through without hassle.
“Lord Hero! May fortune favor the kingdom!”
“Saintess! May you remain in good health!”
Our identities were too grand for anyone to dare impersonate, so the inspection was smooth.
But Orphe didn’t seem pleased about it.
“Damn kingdom bastards… Not even bothering to hide it anymore?”
“Is something wrong?”
‘What now?’
“You don’t know this is a neutral city?”
How would I know that?
The novel just mentioned a gateway city and moved on.
Are these author bastards really throwing me in here and adding settings in real-time while watching my reactions?
Orphe’s Explanation
“My eyes and ears are dim to the ways of the world. If you don’t mind, could you enlighten me?”
‘You know it all, don’t you, show-off?’
“The four gateway cities to the academy are supposed to be neutral, not aligned with the empire or kingdom.”
But they’re divided by factions, with each city favoring one side. Hazburg is known to lean toward the kingdom.
He explained that the buffer zone meant to prevent conflict is being colored by the two nations’ influence, raising the possibility of war.
Despite the peaceful facade of the truce, fierce struggles continue beneath the surface.
Orphe sighed heavily after his explanation.
“Why don’t they understand that staying put would help?”
That’s because you’re a regressor.
Who else but you knows a catastrophe is coming that’ll require humanity to unite?
Well, I know too.
The Coachman’s Fate
As we chatted about such trivial matters, the wagon reached the guard post.
The coachman, sitting up front, turned back to us, trembling slightly.
“W-We’ve arrived…”
“Good. Take the heads and go inside. I’ll follow soon.”
The coachman’s punishment was decided: he’d turn himself in.
Orphe, whose main goal in catching the bandits was the bounty, told me to handle it as I saw fit.
If only this mouth of mine would listen to me…
Somehow, we managed to settle on him turning himself in.
With shaking hands, the coachman approached the black horse following us.
The horse didn’t shy away from a stranger and even lowered itself slightly to make the saddle easier to reach—a neat trick.
That guy’s got some skills.
Orphe’s Proposal
“Where are you staying?”
“I was planning to spend the night at the merchant’s trading post that owns this wagon…”
‘What’s it to you?’
Ugh, mouth, please shut up.
Orphe, for some reason, kept rubbing his chin, clearly displeased.
What’s with this beardless guy acting all annoyed?
But his next words were on another level.
“No, just come with me. That coachman’s a mess, so I don’t trust the trading post either.”
“I’m fine. I don’t want to trouble you unnecessarily.”
‘Why’re you being so clingy? You really into me or what?’
“No, it’s better if you come.”
I seriously don’t get it.
I’ll handle my own business, okay?
As our argument dragged on, a crowd started to gather.
“What’s going on?”
“No idea, a lovers’ quarrel?”
“The woman’s dressed like a nun… Oh my, oh my, a love escape?!”
“Oh my! So passionate! My husband used to be like that too.”
A Double-Edged Fame
My face not being widely known was both a blessing and a curse.
The novel usually described it as something like radiating divine beauty and a warm smile.
The classic type: high fame, but unrecognizable face.
…The crowd’s growing, and this is starting to feel like a big deal.
But getting swept up and dragged along didn’t sit right with me.
He’s a harem protagonist, after all—what if something weird happens if I mess up?
A Grand Entrance
That’s when it happened.
A man shouted loudly.
“Clear the way! A noble person approaches!”
“A noble person?”
“I said move! Unless you want to be trampled!”
The crowd murmured and parted.
The clear sound of hooves echoed through the air.
Clop, clop.
A massive white horse. Its clear, luminous eyes gave it a divine aura.
And the man atop it.
He was dazzling.
His golden hair shone brilliantly under the high midday sun.
A sturdy silver-white armor, adorned with gold trim on the breastplate and pauldrons.
And emerald-green eyes that shone even brighter than the armor.
This tall, handsome man, easily over 180 cm, approached us.
“His Imperial Highness, Prince Theodosius, arrives!”
“Greetings, Hero.”
A radiant smile, like the midsummer sun, bloomed on his face.
The mid-boss of the novel, the Third Prince, had appeared.