Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Invitation (2)
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“...Why again, why the hell does this keep happening...!”
“...”
Get a grip.
That phrase automatically came to mind as I watched Atalante muttering to herself, on the verge of losing it right in front of me. But unlike usual, I couldn't just throw it straight at her this time.
Because honestly, I had no clue what the hell was going on either.
“The Prime Minister of the Empire barging into the academy without a word of warning was disaster enough, and now you're tangled up in it too...!”
“...I didn't exactly ask to get involved.”
I replied in a subdued tone.
“Even if I'd stayed put, he came straight for me.”
“...What?”
Atalante stared at me, practically holding her breath.
Like she'd just considered one possibility she really didn't want to imagine.
“You're not saying he's a vessel for a demon or something, are you?”
“Nah, nothing like that.”
That much I could say for sure.
A vessel for a demon couldn't be marked as an 'ally' from the start. The system straight-up wouldn't allow it.
“...”
But if not...
I'd said it before, but figuring out why he'd act like that toward me—with zero connection between us—was starting to feel utterly impossible.
What reason could there possibly be for someone like him to come at me that hard?
“...Anyway. We don't know why, but the Prime Minister is clearly showing massive interest in you right now.”
As that thought crossed my mind, Atalante continued in a tense voice.
“You've been invited to dinner. With the Tristan Duchess.”
“Yeah.”
“I'll prepare your clothes, so stay quietly in the parlor until I come escort you.”
She said it like a stern warning.
For someone who'd covered up all the messes I'd made in that furnace of conflict, this reaction felt overly intense. But yeah, a 'great chieftain' and the 'Prime Minister' weren't even in the same league.
'...The head of a republic and the powerholder of a centralized empire do carry different weight.'
On a national scale, tribal alliances and empires might seem comparable, but that was just due to tech disparities.
Put another way, the Empire had overwhelming manpower and resources to match the tribal alliance's near-SF-level tech.
And the Prime Minister and Emperor could command all that with a single word.
“If you cause a big incident this time, I really won't be able to protect you. Behave yourself. Got it?”
“...”
Anyone hearing this would think I was some lunatic who sparked disasters everywhere I went—
'...Hm.'
Not entirely wrong, though.
Looking back on my track record so far, I couldn't even deny it as an empty compliment.
Fine. I'd promise Atalante I'd just eat quietly and come back this time—
“There you are, Dawood Campbell!”
Before I could finish the thought.
Someone burst through the chancellor's office door.
It was Fainol. Looking unusually flustered, too.
“...Fainol Lifec?”
Atalante tilted her head as she confirmed who it was.
A regular student kicking open the chancellor's office like this was bizarre enough, but she seemed to have a rough idea that this guy was with the Inquisition.
She skipped the questions and went straight to asking his business.
“What brings you here...?”
“I'm coming to that dinner too!”
“...”
Atalante started dry-heaving like she'd lost her mind.
And me too.
Though I didn't exactly feel like stopping him.
I'd just declared I'd behave, and now trouble was walking right up to me on its own two feet.
●
[You know, I always think this, but unlike you, the women around you are all firecrackers.]
“...”
[What about rounding them all up for a 'World's Strongest Demoness Tournament'? Winner takes your first night ri—]
“...Shut up for a sec.”
Old man.
I'm not asking for any holy knight dignity or mentor vibes from you.
Can we at least keep some basic human dignity here?
Please.
[Neither of us is human anymore anyway.]
“...”
Fair point.
I let out a sigh and glanced down at my chest.
Where the Seal of the Otherworldly—busy changing my race right on schedule—was embedded.
“Hope I don't have a seizure or anything later...”
[Seizure? What seizure?]
“There are two vessels right there.”
The two strongest ones, too: the one housing the mightiest demon, and the one with the highest fusion rate right now.
If something went wrong, it'd be a combo we couldn't contain.
I gazed at the building in the distance, abuzz with dinner preparations.
Elnor and Fainol were probably already waiting in the dining room. I was set to join a bit later.
[But why are you joining late?]
“It's procedure and etiquette.”
I sighed in reply.
“Main guests enter last, apparently.”
[Yeah, I know that much. Then shouldn't the Prime Minister enter last? Why are you last?]
“Yeah. He said our entry order's the same.”
[...]
Kalliban let out a hollow chuckle.
Having worked in the palace as a Guardian, he picked up on the implication right away.
[...Entering together—that's for lovers or spouses, right?]
“...Yeah.”
Basically, a blatant shout to everyone around: this guy's my partner, so don't even think about it.
He probably had a strong habit of pulling stunts like this right in Elnor's face.
[...Are you spraying pheromones or something? What the hell did you do to make her go that far?]
I just ran a hand through my hair in silence at that.
Even if it was just a private event in one of the academy's quiet buildings, eyes and ears were everywhere.
Rumors would spread for sure. Processed into full-blown scandal fodder and scattered everywhere.
“...Beats me. I've seriously never met her before.”
[But she acted like she knew you, didn't she?]
“What?”
[From before. Like she'd met you multiple times. The way she talked, acted.]
I stroked my chin, lost in thought at Kalliban's words.
He had a point. She was consistently dropping those hints.
[And you have zero recollection? For sure?]
I frowned slightly at Kalliban's question.
"...What're you getting at?"
[There was that one guy before who gave off a similar vibe. Barely crossed paths with you, but acted all familiar.]
"..."
I got what he meant.
Clearly referring to that one creepy woman who always wore a mask.
[And you kept acting like you knew something about her too. About her true identity.]
"...Just a hunch."
But.
If my hunch about that one was spot on as a forerunner.
More precisely.
If she later actually 'becomes' a forerunner.
Then it was possible the Prime Minister knew me too.
[...What're you talking about?]
Meaning she might've met 'Dawood Campbell' from a 'different timeline.'
The Gray Devil's reactions every time he saw me. The forerunners. Even the blue demon.
They all consistently gave off that vibe.
That the 'Dawood Campbell' they'd met wasn't my 'first' iteration. Not hard to sense.
If the Prime Minister fit that pattern, it tracked.
[...What do you mean? Weren't you a total shut-in back then, not meeting anyone?]
“Not the past, then the future.”
[What?]
“Demons bend the laws of time and space, Kalliban.”
The blue demon proved it once. Time flows differently for them.
He'd shown 'future knowledge' in his words and actions multiple times, so it held water.
[...So.]
Kalliban spoke in a dumbfounded tone.
[The Prime Minister came from the future or something?]
“...In a nitpicky sense, yeah. But more like.”
I narrowed my eyes as I replied.
“Something might be 'looping.'”
[Looping? What?]
“The world.”
[...?]
A baffled silence came from the soul linker, like what the hell are you saying, but I couldn't find a better way to put it.
At least, it summed up my hypothesis on this world's 'truth' pretty neatly.
“Hey, I haven't nailed it down for sure. For now, just think of it as something from the future showing up.”
[...Kinda pisses me off how it feels like you're lecturing me.]
Lecturing? Please.
Right now, even I was just going off vague feelings.
Reviewing my experiences and memories—no way stuff like this should've happened. It had to be timeline distortions.
But.
“One thing's certain, though.”
I knew the 'cause' behind those phenomena.
Wasn't there one monstrous thing right by my side, warping time and space just by existing?
[...The Gray Devil.]
“Yeah.”
Whatever came from the future, whatever looped the world, however it went down.
It all tied back to him.
In this world, he was the only one with power like that.
“...”
Well.
Then why the hell did he do it? That became the burning question.
What happened in the future to make demons lose their minds over present-me, and the Gray Devil twist the whole timeline?
Centered on 'me,' what the hell goes down later?
'...No idea.'
Too few clues right now.
Focus on the problem at hand.
“...Still leaves the Prime Minister issue hanging, though.”
Even in that hypothesis, one snag popped up.
Everything in it tied back to 'demons' somehow.
Forerunners led demon worshippers. Gray and blue demons were demons themselves.
So, the Prime Minister?
What connection did she have to be part of it?
Lost in those thoughts, a voice suddenly tickled my ear.
“There you are.”
“Oh, Chancellor. I was starting to think I'd die of waiting—”
I started to stand—and froze stiff.
It wasn't Atalante who'd opened the parlor door.
Locking eyes with those golden irises, I jolted upright like I'd been struck by lightning.
“...Prime Minister?”
“Came to get you, Dawood Campbell.”
“...Y-Your Excellency, you could've sent a servant—”
“How could I?”
The Prime Minister smiled faintly, then strode over and seized my arm.
She looped our arms together like a ring. Pressed right up to the armpit, full body contact.
“When it's about receiving you, Dawood.”
“...P-Prime Minister.”
One thing was crystal clear.
Walking into the hall like this? Elnor would go berserk. Game over, straight shot.
“As honored as I am, this feels too much for my station. Maybe a little distance—”
“...You want me to let go?”
But.
The moment I sensed the chill drop in Sullivan's voice, cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Ah, wrong move. The feeling hit me instinctively.
“Again? You want to be apart from me again?”
“...”
Another line pounded my brain, enough to make me forget the chill.
'...Again?'
What did she mean?
And.
Meeting those eyes.
I knew instinctively.
Her 'connection' to the demons.
[System Message]
[ The ‘Seal of the Otherworldly’ reacts faintly! ]
[ Reacting to target =Removed object= ! ]
This close, skin-to-skin, that 'aura' swirling in her eyes—it was unmistakably familiar.
She was a 'vessel.'
But.
Nothing like the demon vessels I'd encountered.
[What do you mean?]
'...She is one, but.'
I replied to Kalliban's incredulous voice, sweat beading.
'No demon fragment.'
[...What?]
'No fragment. Just the authority left. Like...'
I couldn't finish.
Kalliban did.
[...She's the demon 'itself'?]
“...”
Spot on. That's the vibe.
What the hell.
Staring at the Prime Minister in a cold sweat from that realization.
“Well then.”
Sullivan smiled brightly.
“Shall we go in?”
The Prime Minister said it with her golden eyes curving beautifully.
A stunning smile.
Seductive as a demon's temptation.
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