Chapter 107
Chapter 107
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Gadia's Visit
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Who is it?"
No one was supposed to come.
I jerked my chin from where I was lounging in the chair, and Kane, who was standing closest to the door since he'd come in last, turned and opened it.
'I can't see who it is.'
Back when Kane was sold as a slave at the auction house, he hadn't eaten properly and had been through a lot of harsh treatment, so his body hadn't grown much—he'd even been smaller than me.
But the Kane opening the door now had bulked up considerably, probably thanks to all the green juice I'd been feeding him, and I couldn't see the person on the other side.
"It's a guest of the employer."
He said as he twisted his body to the side, revealing long silver-blue hair.
"Gadia? Sis?"
I blurted out her name without thinking, then tried to cover by calling her "sis" as I stood up.
As I approached, her face was shrouded in a veil of frost, made by her freezing trait, undulating in the air as if it might melt away at any moment.
It draped from her forehead down to around her lips, blocking her view on purpose, it seemed.
'Why?'
"...Let's talk outside first, Adelrian."
Up close, her shoulders were trembling faintly, and her already pale skin looked almost blue.
I had no idea what had her so tense.
"Outside? At this hour? Why not just come in and sit? These are all my... people, so no need to worry about security."
I'd almost said friends or colleagues, but that would be too far from the arrogant little brother she knew.
"For a moment. Let's talk outside."
But Gadia spoke in a voice growing icy, clearly unwilling to talk inside, when I heard footsteps from behind.
She wasn't emitting any killing intent, was she?
My throat still didn't feel like it was in immediate danger.
"Fine, then I'll bring one guard with me. As you know, sis, I'm powerless."
At my snide remark, Gadia's shoulders twitched, and she gave a small reply.
"...Except him."
"What?"
"I said leave the man out."
That damn mistrust of men.
She was clearly into Kane, but hadn't acknowledged it yet because it was so deeply ingrained.
"Luna, Leaf."
"Yes, young master."
—Yes, Administrator.
At my words, Luna and Leaf stepped up to flank me. Gadia's head, veiled in frost, turned briefly between them.
"She wants to talk one-on-one because the others make her nervous. No need to go outside, then."
I gestured for everyone except Luna and Leaf to go back into their rooms, and asked Luna to prepare tea.
Rachel watched with keen interest but pouted when I told her to go in—she'd hear about it later anyway.
Soon, the living room held just me and Gadia facing each other, with steaming tea and snacks set between us.
Luna and Leaf stood at a discreet distance on standby, and Aegis circled me invisibly, so no worries about my head suddenly flying off.
"So, what did you want to say that had you leaving the academy and coming at this hour?"
As I watched the frost veil slowly dissipate from her face, Gadia spoke.
"I came to hear the full story about this incident."
With Kane and Zero gone, she'd apparently regained her composure and sipped her tea with elegant poise.
Thinking back, that frost veil earlier hadn't been to avoid looking at random men—it was purely because of Kane.
I'd heard of this somewhere.
The denial phase of being a fan.
I propped my chin on my hand and grinned knowingly.
"Curious enough to sneak out and come at this hour?"
"I finished all my scheduled classes today, so it just happened to be this time."
"When did you ever give a damn? Missed your little brother that much, sis?"
At my sarcasm, the temperature seemed to drop, goosebumps rising on my arms.
Luna and Leaf took a step closer, but Gadia raised a hand to stop them, and the temperature rose again.
"I'll say it once more: I'm only curious how you knew it was me. Nothing more, nothing less. I'd appreciate it if you stopped with the nonsense."
Yeah, yeah. She just wanted another look under the excuse of me.
That's love for you. Out of sight, out of mind—no, out of sight, want to see, full of questions.
She kept glancing toward the room Kane had entered, her body trembling—it was obvious.
Sure, I was in Rachel's main wife faction on the forums, but now we had this vaguely family-like thing going, family was family. I decided in one second to root for Gadia and opened my mouth.
"I picked her."
"...What?"
"I picked her."
I winked cheekily and subtly leaned my head back to dodge any potential attack from Gadia.
"Picked... Then how did you see through the fake's disguise? It wasn't magical—it was some special method."
I nudged the chair back from the table bit by bit with my toes as I spoke.
"Sis. Why should I tell you how? You seem to be mistaken— you're the one who owes me now. I'm the one who saved you. How I figured it out doesn't matter."
What mattered was that Gadia owed me, and she'd have to repay it someday.
Her eyes sharpened at that.
Not quite at the level of the arrogance trait on Adelrian, but Gadia was from high nobility with outstanding looks even beyond her traits, so her pride was strong.
Cold spread through her teacup as if she were unconsciously releasing power, and Luna and Leaf pressed closer to me.
"You..."
"Don't forget. I took a loss equal to how much you value yourself."
To me, Gadia owed exactly what she thought she was worth.
If not for me, she might have had her very identity as "Gadia Training Krueger" denied and stolen.
She glared murderously, clearly understanding, but didn't attack.
"You..."
"Kane!"
"......!"
She tensed to say more, her grip tightening, so I quickly called my Gadia repellent. As soon as Kane opened the door, Gadia covered her eyes with one hand.
"Oh, time for you to head out, then."
She hastily conjured the frost veil, sweeping it over her face, and circled the room to exit as far from Kane as possible.
"She gone? Is she gone?"
"That's your family member, young master. 'Gone or not?'"
"Lord Adelrian. Did the talk go well?"
Rachel burst out of her room looking exasperated, and Zero scratched his head as he emerged.
I pushed the snacks toward Rachel and Leaf; Rachel grabbed one and eyed me.
"Weird. You don't seem the type to just let family slide."
"What do you mean?"
As I sipped the remaining tea and asked, Rachel grinned.
"You look like someone who wouldn't get swayed by emotions, but you do. Especially human nobles—they're the worst. Didn't you resolve this too easily?"
Did it look that way?
I thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Gadia's not a real threat to me to begin with."
My throat had fluttered inwardly in fear, but I had a solid counter like Kane.
Plus, with Aegis around, even if Kane wasn't right next to me, I wouldn't die easily anymore.
In the original story, she debuted as the clichéd haughty noble heroine, struggled alongside Kane, and ended up as one of the three heroines who died. If anything, I felt a bit fond of her.
'Kai's the one I need to watch more.'
Hard to deal with early on, and late-game you just burst him down anyway.
I glanced briefly at Luna—one of the three who sacrificed in the original—then spoke.
"She might even be useful later."
"Ugh... Whatever, let's go inside and game."
Rachel made a bored face like "knew it," split the last snack with Leaf, grabbed the board game, and headed to the room with Luna.
"If you're gaming, mind if I join?"
Zero grabbed a candy jar from somewhere and followed. I chuckled at the sight, and Kane spoke up.
"How much longer do you plan to stay here?"
At Kane's question, I hummed thoughtfully and started calculating.
"If I lose the bet with Dimitri... unlikely, but I'd leave right away. Otherwise, I'll be here a while."
Kane seemed to mull it over, then turned his head.
I'd have to see how things played out, but if the meeting with the imperial family dragged on, I might split the party and proceed separately.
Pyian coming to me would be ideal—though unmentioned yet—or at least securing some underworld influence.
Could start later, but since I was here, better to plant the seeds now.
—Administrator. It's quite late now. How about resting for tomorrow?
"Should I?"
I was debating pulling a book from subspace to read out of lingering regret when Leaf spoke up.
I'd commissioned the dice at the jewelers today. Met Pyian. Met Gadia.
'Tiring day, huh.'
Knock knock.
I was just standing to head to bed when a soft knock sounded.
'Who now?'
Luna, Zero, and Rachel were gaming in their rooms. Leaf was drawing bathwater. Kane sat by the window with a red book out. Guess I'd get it.
Casually approaching the door—closest to me—I opened it to see silver-blue hair and ice-blue eyes.
"Sis. Did you forget someth—"
Clang!
I'd meant to ask what she'd left behind when a dagger plunged toward my throat.
Aegis deflected it, and the rebound sent Gadia spinning; she hurled another dagger from her other hand at my face.
Someone yanked me back hard enough to pitch me forward, and as Kane batted the dagger away, Leaf stepped in front.
Fwoosh—
Dozens of greenish-glowing needles scattered in an instant. Leaf blocked them all with her body and stepped back; Kane grabbed Gadia's wrist—the one that had flung them from midair—snapped it, and dragged her inside.
"You don't let up for a second."
"Young master, are you alright?"
Rachel had apparently yanked me—I was leaning against her—and Luna blocked my front as she asked.
Zero clapped his palms over the subdued Gadia's ears like cymbals, knocking her out.
"It's a druid technique."
I shot him a look like "what the hell was that," and Zero grinned sheepishly.
He was getting better with his doppelganger's linked skills.
I straightened from Rachel's arms and moved my head.
"This one's fake, right?"
"Anyone can see that."
Kane rolled the fake Gadia's body with his toe—her wrist bent unnaturally—to show me.
Blood trickled from both ears as she lay unconscious; outwardly, she was Gadia herself.
But no need for user eyes to confirm: fake Gadia, backed by the Evil God Cult.
They must've chalked up me finding the real Gadia to luck.
I could guess the effect they were aiming for by sending an obvious fake.
"What now?"
"What? Not killing her?"
"Need to?"
This world was subtly brutal. I felt no shock at death thanks to buoyancy, but even Luna showed no fear of killing. That said it all.
Killing and dying came easy at its core.
No one said it outright, but their eyes screamed "just kill her, it's clean—why not?"
And I didn't like that.
What was it? Modern sensibilities: all life precious, human life heavy, don't want more blood on my hands.
Not quite.
But heroes saving the world from doom shouldn't just slaughter willy-nilly, right?
Maybe an old-man thought, but the cult's casual killing bred this backlash.
I suddenly didn't want to kill someone neutralized like this.
Felt like playing into the cult's hands.
"Killing her would just make the Evil God Cult happy. Hate that."
Everyone chimed in quickly.
"Hmm."
"Ah, then I'm for it."
"Want me to dump her far away?"
"Have Zero potion her and hand to the guards."
"Yes, I'll wake her and lift the potion effect."
I nodded at their responses, and that's when Leaf approached, having removed the needles from her body.
—Administrator. The water's getting cold.
Even with an assassin dropping by.
What a peaceful night.