Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Visitation
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Chirp! Chirp chirp!
The morning birdsong drifting in from the window was truly elegant and pure.
But I just couldn't pull myself together.
Was it because there was no Unicorn shrieking to wake me up?
─Splash!
Or was it because that water running in the bathroom was nagging at my nerves too deeply?
'..What the hell was that dream I had yesterday..?'
No, fuck, of course it was hard to snap out of it.
The dream from last night had been that shocking. The woman in it was definitely Kaiyen—no doubt about it.
'Karen.. It's just Kaiyen's name with one letter swapped out to make it a girl's name..'
Was my imagination always this barren? No, more than that—out of all the women in the world, why her as a girl?
Just one day without sex, and my libido was building up enough to give me a dream like that?
'...Ah, I didn't, did I?'
I lifted the blanket just to check, peeking underneath, but there were no signs of a wet dream on my gown or sheets.
'Looks like no wet dream.. Good.'
If I'd had a wet dream about a gender-swapped version of Kaiyen, the right thing to do at that moment would be to bash my head against the wall and attempt suicide.
I'd built a harem—not just pure love, but a full-on harem pure love with the girls I like..! And then BL drift?! I'd deserve my skull cracking open!
"...Damn it, I can't get my head straight. Why is my mind so foggy?"
Was I just tired? No, I'd deliberately gone to bed early last night, so that couldn't be it.
Still, even though I'd slept deeply and woken up refreshed, my body felt heavy and weary, my head was hazy, and my vision was blurry.
'I'm not dreaming while awake or anything—get it together. I've got a mountain of studying to do today.'
I slapped both cheeks hard and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom.
A good face wash should snap me out of it. Cold water combat shower today.
─Creak!
At that moment, the door opened, and a doll-like figure with a towel around his waist stepped out of the bathroom.
I flinched. Was it still that dreamlike feeling? For a split second, I thought it might be Kaiyen coming out as Karen.
"─You're awake, Arthin? Sleep well?"
But nothing was amiss. The one who walked out wasn't Karen—it was Kaiyen.
He'd apparently just finished showering. With a towel around his waist, he flaunted his statue-like masculine body, drying his long, wet hair with another towel as he looked at me warmly.
'..Wait, why am I observing this guy so closely?'
Normally, I'd have thought something like, He's looking at me creepily while drying his hair.
"Gonna wash up and shower. Just woke up, so my head's all fuzzy—I can't focus."
Damn, I needed to wash my face before any weirder thoughts crept in. Get it together for real.
"Head fuzzy? You sick? No fever, right?"
As I brushed past him toward the bathroom, Kaiyen suddenly approached with a worried look and placed his hand on my forehead.
His eyes weren't just those of a concerned friend—there was a distant longing in them. He'd probably lost control again and started showing his gay side.
"...??"
But something was off. Normally, rage I couldn't contain would surge up, and I'd have to kill him 127 times in my head before calming down.
'Why.. does it not bother me at all?'
Even seeing him treat me like the noble lady protagonist of some yaoi romance fantasy, I felt nothing. No, it was more accurate to say the repulsion was gone.
"....No way."
"What? Are you really not feeling well, Arthin?"
"This can't be!!! This is a dream!!!"
This had to be a dream. Me, without any repulsion to BL—and from just one dream?!
─Bang!!!
I denied that reality and slammed my head hard against the wall.
"Wh-what are you doing, Arthin?!"
"Let go! This is a dream! I need to wake up!"
Bang! Bang!
Pushing away the restraining Kaiyen, I repeatedly bashed my head against the wall. After five full-force hits, my mind finally started to blur.
'If I wake from the dream.. the nightmare will end.. right..?'
I imagined that in my fading consciousness. I'd open my eyes to my lover stroking my head, asking if I'd had a bad dream.. And I'd smile, say I'm fine...
*
"Are you alright?"
When I opened my eyes, I locked gazes with a blond young man peering right into my face.
"Gah!!!!"
"Whoa! What the hell happened, Sir Arthin?"
I jolted up in surprise, looking around. It was the same room in our lodging.
"What on earth happened, Sir Arthin? What was that weird scream?"
"Uh.. Priest Thomas? What happened..?"
Where did the dream end and reality begin? Was I still dreaming in my 3rd cycle? My head spun.
"This morning, you suddenly started bashing your head against the wall in self-harm. Shocked Kaiyen called me. I healed the wound for now.. but what happened?"
Fuck, so the head-bashing was real? Karen was the illusion, but losing repulsion to Kaiyen's gay vibes was reality?
"Uh.. well.. I think it was just stress buildup.."
"Stress.. Come to think of it, I heard you suffer so much stress you even get stress-induced hair loss. Being the hero's companion must be heavy."
My vague excuse seemed to land. Priest Thomas nodded, convinced.
"The wound won't scar, but you can't let mental stress linger. Do you have some usual way to relieve it?"
"Uh... Dating my girls is the best stress reliever, honestly."
The problem was, they couldn't visit here. No chance for dates.
'..Should I sneak out and hang with Sirka after all?'
To erase that lingering thigh play sensation with Kai.. no, fuck! Karen, I had to sneak out. I'd go mad otherwise.
"No helping it, then. I was going to tell you after lunch, but since your stress is bad, I'll say it now."
"..Huh? What is it?"
I gave him a puzzled look, and Priest Thomas gazed at me with rare excitement, grinning.
"Good news for you, Sir Arthin. You heard about the Orb of Trials I made?"
"..That insane difficulty orb forcing some crazy virtue test no one knows if they can pass?"
"Insane difficulty? I put in exactly the right level, in my opinion. Anyway..."
He cleared his throat dramatically, building suspense. What the hell?
"..Heh heh! Even the academy has a chaste woman worthy of this era's example! Rejoice—two women will visit this afternoon!"
"..Visitation? Visitation? They passed that orb?"
I couldn't believe it. Two of my women passed Priest Thomas's crazy trial?
"Yes, so I happily approved! After lunch, from 1 to 4 PM should work for visitation!"
Priest Thomas shouted, even happier than me.
If he's that thrilled, he probably didn't expect anyone to pass either.
Whatever. Who was coming?
'One's gotta be Violet... the other?'
...Who? No clue. Aside from Violet, no virgins left in my harem..?
"Um, sorry, but can I ask who the visitors are?"
"Of course! Despite being a witch, Violet, who committed none of the seven deadly sins, and Marianne the Princess, model of royalty!"
"Ah, I see... Wait, who?"
Did I hear that wrong? Who was visiting?
"Violet and Princess Marianne. Any issue with the visitors?"
"No! Not that.. Teacher Marianne..? Coming here?"
Why would Marianne come here now? And how'd she pass the orb?
No, thinking about it, she could pass.
Not greedy, not arrogant looking down on others, not envious or jealous, controls her anger, doesn't covet others' wealth.. or give her virginity to a man.
She fit the orb's conditions perfectly.
Still no reason why. She vividly remembered what sex-crazed me did last time we met.
'..She didn't come to kill me, right?'
I started trembling a bit in fear. An truly angry teacher was scarier than the Demon King.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Are you listening, Sir Kaiyen? This is an emergency."
While Arthin reeled from the sudden development, Kaiyen sat facing Olga, enduring the saintess's sharp glare.
"..Ah, um. What were we talking about?"
He'd heard her ramble for 10 minutes, but Kaiyen had zero focus for it.
'Last night was too intense.. Status window even warned me. Was it overkill? Arthin seemed to remember the dream.. hope he wasn't hurt bad..'
Just reliving the ecstatic night when his 16-year crush was finally reciprocated brought a flush to his cheeks—he had to fight the smile tugging at his lips.
"..That witch Violet broke through my trial to seduce Arthin. I don't know what happened last night, but remember our deal?"
Kaiyen snapped to and nodded silently. Only then did the saintess relax a bit, looking at him.
"I gave you the first night. In return, you'll fully cooperate with me from now on, right? I kept my end—so today, you step up and disrupt Arthin's harem..."
"..About that promise. One request."
Twitch!
Olga nearly scowled but kept her calm poker face, honed against crowds, sly priests, and nobles.
She'd already given the reward—what more did he want?
"..What request? Let's hear it."
"..It's shameless, but.. I want tonight with Arthin too.."
Squeeze! Her grip crushed the leather sofa armrest.
"...Isn't that breaking the promise? It was clearly just one night yesterday..?"
"W-well.. Actually, the drug didn't take full effect on Arthin, so he kept waking up.."
As Kaiyen brazenly lied for another day, Olga inwardly recited scripture to quell her boiling rage.
'That damn gay bastard...!'
Otherwise, she'd dump the hot tea in front of her on that shameless homo bastard's expressionless face.