Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: King of the Plains and the Power Thief #03
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‘Hmm, something feels off.’
If I thought about it even briefly, there were more than one or two strange points.
The Sion I knew was just a knight skilled in swordsmanship, a loyal subordinate to the villain Rexton. 1. Even in the original story, she was the type who constantly picked fights with Kaiyen and his group, who opposed Rexton, only to get thoroughly beaten by Kaiyen once.
The Sion I'd observed wasn't much different. She had first-class skill as a swordswoman, but her belligerent and hard-to-understand mental state held her talent back—a villainous side character A.
Yet after getting crushed as a knight, she suddenly started stalking me and showed an eerily competent side.
The first time I noticed Sion tailing me was because she secretly followed me through the Unicorn's portal, but the portal's nature allowed the Unicorn to detect her.
‘The Unicorn carried me and raced through the forest at full speed, and she followed right behind and came through the portal?’
Right now, he's like a dimwitted good-for-nothing basking in the sunlight, but the Unicorn is a divine beast that could die any moment. Just contracting with him is a fortunate encounter that lets you breeze through the early game.
Even just now, he was the only one who sensed Sion hiding nearby. If all the empire's knights were this good at concealment, they'd have crossed the barrier and slaughtered the Demon King's Army by now.
“Why art thou staring at this exalted one so intently? Surely thou hast not fallen for me in that short time? Kuek!”
I pinched the Unicorn's flabby arm to shut him up and turned my head toward Sion.
‘Arthin too, and the author left out a ton of settings that weren't shown until the original ending.’
I was certain of this. Because the character details, worldview, and even the most crucial info on the Demon King weren't fully revealed in the original—everyone just died and it ended—I only realized I needed preparations to kill the Demon King in my 4th regression.
‘As expected, obsessing over every minor hidden detail has no end. For clearing, I need to concisely uncover only the necessary settings and push forward...’
Huh? As I thought it over, I realized I was getting sucked into my own strange mindset.
Since when had I been seriously aiming for a clear in this regression?
This regression was meant for resting because I was exhausted. If I'd planned to clear the Demon King, I wouldn't have wasted a whole month saying I'd beat up Rexton.
‘The vow I made to myself lying in that hospital bed that day wasn't like that.’
Screw that guy Kaiyen. That's the one goal I'd started this regression with.
Even now, that jerk starts putting up walls the moment he hears I've slept with a woman, which pisses me off. But to get him to unravel clues about memory regression, I need to close the distance eventually.
‘Ah, then I can use that angle.’
The only one who knows Sion's on my side is the Unicorn anyway. Time to exploit that.
“Sion, there are two things you need to do first...”
“Hah...♡”
“Ugh! What the hell!”
As I whispered commands into Sion's ear, she suddenly shuddered and let out a moan.
I jolted back in surprise at the hot breath and moan tickling my ear. Sion's face was already flushed, as if feeling something intensely.
“Did this exalted one not tell thee, Arthin! That woman hasn't embraced a man only because she hasn't had the chance—she's no different from a harlot! Her heart and spirit are utterly rotten!”
Despite the Unicorn's shout, I started feeling my head spin dizzily.
‘Will taming her really tame her for real?’
Watching Sion's trembling eyes, my confidence in myself began to crumble.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Whew, all cleaned up.”
The warehouse around the Bronze Dormitory had been reborn into a new space after passing through my hands, transformed from a dusty, dim hole.
To be honest, all I'd done was use the time until our 7:30 appointment to clean, but since the warehouse was fairly spacious, I'd managed to create enough room for a meeting.
The Unicorn whined that cleaning would kick up dust and make him hate it, so I'd sent him off ahead to at least explain the situation to the Prairie Sect priestesses from the Southern Diocese before the appointed time.
“Whew, finally a bit of peace.”
With all the recent incidents piling up, I'd really missed these quiet moments.
“For this summer break, maybe I should really go visit Shaomei's family home...”
In academy or school stories, the capital has the sea as a staple, but I could barely remember living on an island and playing in the ocean—it felt so long ago. Agnes and Shaomei would probably love it if I suggested going to the beach.
“If I frame it as a club summer training camp and drag them to the sea, it'd be a natural way to have fun... Not a bad idea.”
For a moment, I thought regression might not be so bad.
If I could just find the method for memory regression, wouldn't this be the best life?
In the prime of youth, my teens when life's most vibrant, hanging out with the women I love and good friends, regressing if things go wrong—could I live in paradise forever like that?
“...No, that's not it.”
I shook my head right away. The first few times might be blissfully happy, no doubt.
But what about the 5th? The 50th? 500th? 5,000th?
Once accustomed to a life of constant fun, could I handle the bloody battles against the Demon King and villains when my mind wears down? Even in my sharpest 4th regression, my resolve broke at the very end.
Maybe, even after vowing to regress for my own sake, I've been unconsciously preparing for the next one to prevent that situation without realizing it.
“...Ah, my head hurts. Can't I just mindlessly party and have fun without all this?”
No, that'd just lead to unavoidable frustrations.
“At the very least, I'll enjoy this regression. Anyone who gets in the way of that fun, I'll beat down or shove aside. Let's keep that firmly in mind.”
“Who are you planning to beat up, Young Master?”
At that moment, the door slid open, and Shaomei entered the warehouse with light, cheerful steps.
“Shaomei! You're early? It's still 10 minutes before the appointed time.”
“Of course, to see Big Brother sooner! Do you know how startled I was after you vanished like that yesterday?”
With those words, instead of sitting at the prepared spot at the rectangular table, Shaomei dragged a chair over, leaned her head on my shoulder, and sat down.
The faint perfume scent tickling my nose felt pleasantly refreshing, like being in a bamboo grove.
‘Good thing that sweet-and-sour scent isn't there again.’
I'd suffered so much from that aphrodisiac of hers. Sure, the results turned out well, but it was all dizzying moments. Later, I should have Agnes crack down on it properly.
“Hehe, but I'm glad nothing bad happened.”
As she said that, Shaomei gently hugged my arm and intertwined the fingers of her right hand with my left.
Squish!
‘Her breasts really are amazing...’
I thought losing my virginity would free me from their magic. What a solid delusion.
Instead, with my arm wedged into that heart-shaped cleavage, my face unwittingly split into a grin as my eyes lecherously scanned Shaomei's body.
And then memories of that intense night with Shaomei recently came flooding back...
“Ah, Big Brother's eyes are so naughty♡ Isn't it too obvious just because I linked arms?”
At that moment, Shaomei peeked her head out slightly, and my lecherous gaze met her playful eyes.
I whipped my head away in a fluster, but Shaomei grabbed it with both hands and turned it firmly back toward her.
“Hehe, why be shy? We're already lovers... no, more than that, right?”
Lovers, yeah. We'd confirmed and accepted each other's feelings.
Whipping my head away was just a habit from my virgin days, sneaking peeks at her figure.
More than lovers...?
As I made a slightly puzzled face, Shaomei brought her lips to my ear and whispered in that sweet, tempting voice she used to seduce me.
“After doing it so much like that... You'll take responsibility, won't you? Big Brother?”
Throb.
At that sweet whisper, little Arthin got excited, and Shaomei stroked it lightly over my pants while planting a soft kiss on my cheek.
The illicit thrill from hearing “Big Brother” every time was downright cheating.
“What do you think? Before the other two arrive... shall we sneak in some fun time?”
Gulp. I swallowed dryly.
Yeah, it's different from my lonely single days. We're already dating after confessing our feelings—can't lovers show some affection?
“There's still over 20 minutes till the appointment... We could have some fun in the meantime...”
“R-Really...? Just the two of us, cozy...?”
Pretending to give in, I gripped Shaomei's interlocked hands tight and stood from my seat.
Author, put an adults-only warning on this.
Clunk!
“Oh my, you two are here early!”
“Ah...! H-Hello, Imperial Princess!”
“A-Ah...! H-Hi, Agnes!”
“??? Hello?”
Does she hate seeing me happy or something? Right then, Agnes strode in cheerfully, greeting us.
Me and Shaomei panicked, let go of our hands, and greeted her overly brightly. Agnes tilted her head curiously but waved at us.
‘Agnes was always the type to arrive early before the appointed time...’
Peel back her clumsy side, and Agnes had diligence befitting an imperial princess ingrained in her from striving to live up to her position.
Besides, even though we're official lovers...
‘I haven't even properly talked to Agnes about that yet...?’
On the day we did the deed, I made both Agnes and Shaomei my women at once. But everyone in Agnes's room then had their reason dulled by Shaomei's aphrodisiac.
After staying up all night, I left without even a morning greeting and got kidnapped by the Unicorn right away...
“Why are you both sweating so much? The warehouse isn't that hot.”
As I flinched, Agnes hurried over and suddenly reached out toward my head.
“The warehouse is way cleaner than before! Did you clean it, Arthin?”
“Yeah, I woke up at 5 a.m. with nothing to do. We're meeting here before morning assembly, and it'd look weird covered in dust.”
“As expected, Arthin is so diligent... But it would've been nicer if you'd cleaned with us.”
Agnes said that while gently combing through my slightly messy hair from the cleaning with her fingers. The delicate affection made the touch feel wonderful.
“Arthin always tries to handle everything alone, so from now on, rely on me or others more, okay?”
Her gentle words stabbed right at my heart.
She must remember me taking Shaomei without permission that day, yet here she was worrying about me the moment we met...
“I think so too, Big Brother. The Imperial Princess is going to be your fiancée, right...?”
Then Shaomei timidly chimed in from the side. But her expression held complex emotions.
It was probably similar yet different from mine. She'd tried to jump me first without telling the kind-hearted Agnes, even coming to my room to claim her place as my second lover.
Her heart must be more tangled than mine. Unlike Violet, Agnes wasn't close to Shaomei, but as my first lover, they'd have to face each other daily.
“Shaomei, don't be so intimidated.”
Seeing Shaomei like that, Agnes lightly pulled her in and hugged both of us at once.
“You two must have gone through a lot mentally. I understand. I've lived two lives, but you two couldn't even make it through four...?”
“...Imperial Princess Agnes...”
“Of course, as an imperial citizen, polygamy is hard for me to understand... But I don't think Arthin accepted Shaomei thoughtlessly. No, he must have agonized over it even more than I did.”
Guilt and sorry mixed as I couldn't meet her eyes and Shaomei sniffled, so Agnes stroked Shaomei's head as tenderly as she had mine.
“Instead, consult with me on big things from now on. Promise me, Arthin?”
Is this the grace of the principal wife? Seeing Agnes warmly embrace and accept us made me reflect on myself for trying to sneak off for lewd fun driven by lust.
“From now on, I'll consult with Agnes on important matters...”
As I meekly agreed, Agnes patted my shoulder appreciatively. That pat warmed something in my chest.
These little bits of warmth... sometimes feel pretty good.
BAM!!!
Then the warehouse door burst open urgently, shattering our heartwarming mood.
“Arthin! Is the rumor that you're a woman in disguise true?!”
What the hell kind of nonsense is this...?
“...What are you three doing right now?”
Violet, who had rushed in startled by some weird rumor, blinked at the sight of us three hugging affectionately, wondering what the hell was going on.
More importantly, what rumor was circulating?
“A rumor that I'm a woman in disguise?”