Chapter 124
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Coronation Ceremony - 1
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Autumn had arrived.
The weather had gradually cooled, and it was the season when the crops ready for harvest began to look golden.
"This year, we have a bountiful harvest thanks to Fores."
"Hehe, no. It's all thanks to Lady Flora's blessing."
After a year of hard work bearing fruit, the crops I had grown myself for the first time were all of excellent quality without exception.
Well, it would have been weirder if they weren't.
Good seeds bought from the Village Chief, fertilizer infused with energy into the soil, and even the blessing of the goddess of nature and harmony, Flora.
I had added everything possible.
"Hero, we'll store all the harvested grains in the food warehouse."
"Yeah, Clia, give Fores a hand."
"Okay! Bro, let's go with Fores!"
"Yes, Lady Clia."
The energetic Clia bounded off vigorously at my request. She spilled grains on the ground here and there along the way, but Fores worked a miracle, picking them up one by one.
I had brought Clia in place of the pregnant Clara, but she was just getting in the way.
On the other hand, Elin handled the task I had asked her to do perfectly.
"Brother Sian, I've finished everything you asked."
"Thanks, Elin."
"Lord Bro! I brought what you mentioned!"
"Thanks, Bessy."
"Lord Bro! How many times do I have to tell you? I'm Becky!"
"Sorry!"
"Bessy is me!"
"Yeah, yeah, the one with the tear mole is Bessy."
And though I hadn't expected it, Becky and Bessy—who were new to farming—proved surprisingly strong, as befitted northern tribal folk, and were a big help.
'My condition still isn't normal.'
I had thought I was fully recovered under Ravi's care, but the most important part still felt unrestored.
'The pain of flesh tearing is still there.'
Compared to before, it only came intermittently, but if I weren't so accustomed to pain, daily life would have been difficult.
Hadron's flesh-cutting strike was terrifying.
"Hnyaaat! Sir Sian! Take your package!"
"Pina, what's going on?"
"Haa haa… Delivery. From the tailor. So heavy… Sir Sian, talk to her for me! That woman treats me like a beastkin slave just because I'm a beastkin! This is racial discrimination! That crazy bitch is lounging around carefree!"
"Ah, the commissioned stuff arrived."
After confirming the clothes I had commissioned from Selnia, I headed straight home to change.
"Nyaat! Don't ignore me!"
...
"Hmm, not bad."
"Really?"
Elsia gave a proper evaluation upon seeing clothes fit for nobility.
"I thought the extended hem length would be a flaw, but Selnia's craftsmanship is better than expected, so you won't need to worry about that part."
"Yeah, her handiwork was surprisingly good."
"Well, more than that, I think the equipment you provided Sian played a big role."
"Y-yeah."
Elsia, who had been cold to Selnia before, soon looked up at me and asked,
"So, have you decided who to bring to the coronation ceremony?"
"Ah, that…"
Originally, I needed to bring one woman as my partner to the coronation ceremony.
The problem was that I had no suitable woman to take right now.
'This damn lust is the issue.'
Initially, I had planned to bring Elsia into high society, but she was pregnant.
I couldn't burden her, seeing her belly gradually swell.
'So I planned to bring Chloe.'
But when I was hospitalized, I couldn't hold back my lust and ended up doing it.
'My partner Clara is the same.'
Including Vivian, all five of my women were pregnant with my children.
Chloe was already expecting her second, no less.
'Helia really loved that.'
Perhaps because she was a nymph serving Hestia, she had rejoiced sincerely at the new child's birth.
"Hmm… Should I bring Elin?"
"Elin?"
"Yeah, she's wise and calm like Elsia."
On top of that, having indirectly experienced things through Elsia—and having read a lot of books—Elin also had impeccable manners.
She could stand in Elsia's place and debut in high society with me without any issues.
But Elsia opposed it vehemently.
"No."
"Why?"
"G-going to the coronation with Sian means going as Sian's woman. But Elin…"
"Ah, right."
She called me "brother" due to our age difference, but with Elsia as my concubine, Elin was officially my adopted daughter.
Taking her as my woman would cause all sorts of problems.
'It could lead to misunderstandings.'
In the end, I had no choice but to attend the coronation alone.
'I hope Helen and Camilla aren't late.'
As I worried, someone approached.
"I'll go!"
It was Clia.
She had been eavesdropping on my conversation with Elsia from who-knows-when, her eyes sparkling as she made her declaration.
"I wanna go to the coronation with Bro! I wanna see the capital's eve festival!"
"Haha, Clia."
"Bro, can I go? You promised!"
"No."
"Whyyy?!"
"Clia? Did you do what I asked you first?"
"Ah."
...
For the coronation, I had learned the basics of noble etiquette from Elsia, but there was far more common knowledge to know than expected.
Why were these nobles so full of vanity?
"For a coronation hosted by the Holy Kingdom, an archbishop presides if you're a viscount or below, and an apostle does it directly for an earl."
"I heard the First Apostle will preside over mine."
"I see. But when do you plan to depart? The eve festival is right around the corner."
"They said someone from the Holy Kingdom is coming, but there's been no sign."
Even on the promised day, no carriage came to pick me up.
Had something happened to them again?
As I thought that,
I sensed a strange aura above our house.
'What's that?'
Divine power mixed with something alien at the same time.
As I quickly donned Robera, a girl appeared before me as if jumping through space.
"Hello! Sir Sian! This one is the Fourth Apostle, Allie!"
Colorful disks floating above her black hair, an outfit straight out of a magical girl story, and mystical star-shaped pupils.
Combined with her stunning beauty, she looked just like…
'A virtual character.'
The distinctive nymph descended before me, her unique disks spinning rapidly.
"And this one is the master of the Tower of Wisdom!"
"You?"
"That's right. The bracelet you're wearing, Sian, is this one's masterpiece!"
Ehem! Allie boasted proudly.
Unlike the nymphs I knew, her personality was extremely flashy.
'Do nymphs' personalities vary depending on the god they serve?'
Or perhaps it was because of her black hair, marking her as a reincarnator.
"You just got summoned here like that, so you'll send me to the capital the same way?"
"Exactly. Ah, and Hero, you don't need to stand on ceremony with this one. A hero directly chosen by the Goddess outranks an apostle."
"Then you drop the formalities too. I don't care for them."
"Cool."
Allie agreed to my suggestion right away.
Unlike other nymphs, she had a truly free spirit.
"You have no idea how exhausting it is to stand on ceremony with someone 500 years younger than this one."
"???"
"Things were finally getting tolerable, but those damn goddesses have to hassle me over one person, and now that inaugural old hag is throwing another fit."
But wasn't she a bit too free?
I called the goddess Hestia a mutt's name sometimes, but only when I was alone.
I wouldn't do it openly in front of everyone. Yet here was an apostle nymph doing just that.
She was even badmouthing the still-living First Emperor.
It was so shocking—even to fellow nymphs—that Helia and the others went pale.
"Um? Is it really okay to say that so openly?"
I asked in a concerned tone, but Allie just waved it off.
"It's fine. For a developer like me, you watch out for the program's eyes, not people! Ah! I wanna drink some soju after so long!"
"…"
It seemed the Holy Kingdom hadn't sent the right person.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have dispatched such a batshit-crazy nymph.
"Oh, right! I've wanted to meet you for a while now, Sian. From the report, it looks like you're from the same hometown as this one."
She was already acting buddy-buddy when had she even seen it? Allie sidled right up to me.
"Anything you're curious about, your senpai here's got you covered."
"…Pass. Just send me to the capital already."
"We've got time, so take it easy! I wanna hear some hometown stories too."
"I don't."
My head was starting to throb. Why was this nymph so hyper?
"Do I really need to rehash stories from a past life that's already over? I'd rather you do something productive."
"Hmm… Are you a T by any chance?"
"Wanna get hit?"
"Hihahaha! The reaction proves you're from my hometown—"
Thwack!
"Kyat!"
"H-Hero?!"
"Ah?!"
Unable to hold back my irritation, I flicked Allie's forehead.
This was technically a violation of nymph protection laws.
"Too late now. Take another one."
"Kyak!"
Allie tried to dodge my honey chestnut, but having been trained by Clia, I landed another one on her with practiced ease.