When the Serial Killer Next Door Gained Harem System Chapter 102: Sounds Convenient

I gave a small shrug, though it felt heavier than it should have. "So people like can have a chance at life."

"People like you?"

"Weaks."

"And who decides which people deserve that chance?"

"."

"That sounds convenient."

"It usually is."

Her eyes stayed fixed on mine, calm and unreadable. "Who do you kill?"

"Bad people, Your Majesty."

"And how do you determine whether soone is bad or good?"

"Common sense," I answered, eting her gaze.

The Queen tilted her head slightly. "Would you kill a starving man for stealing bread?"

"No."

"What if he stole it from another starving family?"

I hesitated for a second. "Still no."

"Then theft alone is not enough for death."

"No."

"What about a man who violates a little girl?"

"Yes," I answered imdiately.

"Even if he regrets it afterward?"

"Yes."

"What if he was drunk?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What if he was raised in violence and knew nothing else?"

I frowned. "That explains it. It doesn’t excuse it."

"And if killing him changes nothing? The girl remains broken, the family remains ruined, and another man like him appears a week later. Does his death still matter?"

"At least he can’t do it again."

The Queen slowly folded her arms. "So your justice is practical, not moral."

"I don’t know what you an by that, Your Maj—"

"You do not kill because it is righteous. You kill because it removes a threat."

I stayed silent.

She stepped closer, her heels clicking softly against the stone floor. "Tell this, then. If a murderer kills ten people to feed his starving village through winter, is he evil?"

"Yes."

"Even if fifty innocent villagers survive because of him?"

I clenched my jaw. "There were other ways."

"And if there weren’t?"

"There’s always another way."

"You sound very certain for soone so young."

"I’ve seen enough."

For the first ti, sothing in her expression shifted. Not pity. Not sympathy. Sothing quieter than that.

"Have you?" she asked softly.

The question hit harder than it should have.

I looked away from her, exhaling slowly. "People like to pretend the world is complicated because it makes them feel smarter. Most of the ti, it isn’t. So people hurt others because they enjoy it. So people destroy lives because they can. I kill those people."

"And if one day soone decides you are one of them?"

That one made pause.

The Queen noticed imdiately.

"You speak as though your judgnt is absolute," she continued. "But every monster in history believed they were justified. Every tyrant thought they were necessary. That includes the elves. What makes you different from them?"

"I know I’m not a good person," I replied quietly. "That’s the difference."

Silence settled between us after that.

The Queen studied for what felt like an eternity before finally stepping back and letting out a slow breath.

I honestly felt like I was suffocating under the pressure of her gaze. In the end, telling the truth had been the only real option. Strangely enough, though, I didn’t regret it. If anything, it felt like so invisible weight had finally loosened around my chest.

Hearing those thoughts out loud, admitting them to soone else for the first ti in years, felt strangely liberating.

"I shall arrange a cart and a coachman for you," she said. "You may leave once the healers finish checking your shoulder."

Relief imdiately loosened the tension in my chest. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

She left without another word, leaving alone.

Finally... so silence.

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

The royal carriage ca to a stop in front of the dormitories, and I stepped down onto the stone street while trying not to irritate my shoulder. The coachman offered a polite smile before guiding the horses away from the academy grounds, leaving alone with the dozens of students already staring in my direction.

The mont people recognized the royal crest on the carriage, the murmuring started.

Great. Exactly what I needed.

Before I could make it inside, the front doors of the boys’ dormitory burst open and Ken practically jogged toward .

"There you are!" he said before stopping in front of and looking over from head to toe. His eyes moved from my cleaned uniform to my polished boots, and his expression shifted into disbelief. "Man, you actually look good."

Honestly, the palace servants deserved a reward for what they had done to my uniform. They had sohow removed all the bloodstains and repaired every rip and tear like the thing had never been dragged through a battlefield.

"How’s the shoulder?" Ken asked.

"It hurts if I move it too much," I replied. "But I’m alive."

"You’re telling everything that happened," he said imdiately as we started walking toward the dormitory entrance together. "The amount of spells you used yesterday was insane. And the classes too. Seriously, Ace, what the hells even are you?"

"I just know a few things," I replied with a weak smile. "The school’s closed today?"

"Yeah. After yesterday’s attack, the administration canceled classes." He pushed the door open for us and continued talking as we entered the building. "The tournant got delayed too. It’s happening in three months now instead of two."

"That’s good," I muttered while we crossed the main hall and headed toward the stairway. "Makes no difference to anyway since I’m not joining."

Ken groaned dramatically as we began climbing the stairs. "You are still saying that after what happened yesterday?"

"Not gonna join. Nope."

"Co on, man. People are already talking about you everywhere. You used Shadow Leap in front of the entire academy. Even those idiot S-Rank students can’t cast that properly."

I sighed. "Ken, let it go. I’m not joining the tournant."

He shook his head with a grin as we reached the second floor and stepped into the long corridor leading toward the shower halls and student rooms.

"You said the sa thing about the practice match," he reminded . "Then you joined those too."

Yeah, because the Queen practically forced into it.

I decided not to ntion that part. "What’s for dinner?" I asked instead, trying to change the subject.

Ken looked at like I had lost my mind. "Dinner? There’s still hours left before evening."

"I’m hungry."

"We could head to a tavern after showering."

"That sounds good," I admitted. "I sll like a corpse."

Ken laughed quietly before his expression beca more serious.

"Yesterday was crazy, though," he said as we continued down the corridor. "Honestly, that fight scared the shit out of ."

"I was scared too."

"You didn’t look scared."

"I was trying to look cool in front of the Queen."

That earned another laugh out of him just as we reached the room. Ken opened the door and we stepped inside.

A student sat behind the reservation desk near the entrance, reading a book with round glasses perched on his nose. The mont he noticed , he closed the book and sat up straighter.

"Ace," he greeted with a nod. "Glad you’re alive."

He knew my na? Huh.

"Sa here," I replied. "Do you have any shower rooms available?"

He leaned over the ledger beside him and scanned the page. "Two hours. All the stalls are booked."

"That works."

As he wrote our nas down, Ken leaned casually against the counter.

"You hear what happened yesterday?" he asked the student.

The guy snorted. "Hard not to, Ken. Everyone’s talking about it."

"We won a three-versus-five," Ken said proudly. "And this idiot can apparently use every class in existence."

"Ken," I muttered.

"What? You literally used Shadow Leap."

"Uh..."

The student looked back at with visible curiosity now.

"And he’s Ambly-Blessed too," Ken added.

"Oh, Ambly..." the student muttered dreamily while staring upward. "What I wouldn’t give for her blessing."

I imdiately cleared my throat before this conversation beca even more uncomfortable.

"Right. Thanks for the reservation," I said quickly. "We’ll co back later."

The student nodded, and Ken followed back into the corridor.

Students continued moving through the halls around us, though the mood inside the academy still felt off. Groups whispered quietly among themselves, and every now and then soone glanced toward before quickly looking away.

Honestly, I couldn’t bla them.

An elven attack inside the academy arena was the kind of thing people rembered for years.

And their plan had nearly worked perfectly too. They had trapped the Queen inside the barrier while isolating everyone already inside the arena. The only reason things went wrong for them was because I happened to be there when the attack started.

Considering my luck lately, though, maybe that shouldn’t have surprised .

Then again, nearly dying to elves still ranked below getting murdered by my girlfriend’s goddess mother on the list of worst experiences in my life.

"So," Ken said as we turned down the hallway leading toward our room, "you and the Queen..."

I already knew where this was going. "No."

"You didn’t even let finish."

"You were about to say sothing stupid."

He grinned shalessly. "She personally brought you to the palace. And you’re blessed by the Goddess of Lust. I’m just saying maybe she wanted—"

"No," I cut in imdiately. "Maybe in my dreams, though."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Ken burst out laughing as we finally reached our room.

The mont we stepped inside, I dropped onto my bed with a quiet groan and stared at the ceiling for a second.

Unfortunately, relaxing reminded of another problem entirely.

The system.

People in this world only had one class. Rangers stayed Rangers. Mages stayed Mages. That was simply how things worked here.

anwhile, I was casually combining multiple classes together like so kind of broken ga chanic.

And if the elves who escaped yesterday started asking questions about the human student using impossible abilities, I had a feeling my life was about to beco much more complicated.

"We still have two hours before the showers," Ken said while sitting on his own bed. "Want to grab food?"

I thought about my remaining silver and imdiately decided against it.

"Let’s just wait for dinner."

"Fair enough."

"Actually," I added, sitting up again, "I wanted to buy a few things before then. Do you know any decent shops nearby?"

Ken nodded imdiately. "I was planning to buy armor anyway. Co with . I know so cheap blacksmiths that sell decent gear."

"That works." I stood up and started removing the academy uniform carefully so I wouldn’t irritate my shoulder again. "Let change first."

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎