Chapter 167: Sexual Harassment
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 167: Sexual Harassment
The day after returning to her original world, Margaret tried to use the magic of time. She attempted to perfectly replicate the sensation she felt when she'd leaped through time, but the magic never activated.
"…What a shame. And after I finally awakened it, too."
"That's because the time magic you possessed was excised and used to create Agapeite. It would be stranger if it did work."
"Is that so?"
If it were possible for Margaret to use the magic of time, that would have been a problem in its own right.
Theoretically, wouldn't that mean one could endlessly create witches who use time magic from Margaret?
That made no sense, neither physically nor magically.
"Tsk. What, then? Are you saying I'm the only one who can't awaken?"
"Well, if you were to awaken again, I imagine your spatial magic would be enhanced, not your time magic."
"Why do you think so?"
"You awakened time magic because of the intrinsic link between space and time. They're stuck together. But that's only from the modern perspective of Earth, where I used to live."
Space and time are connected. This concept was a relatively recent theory even on Yohan's Earth—a theory known and utilized by everyone in the modern era.
Before Einstein formulated the concept of spacetime, time and space were considered separate, absolute concepts.
If meeting Yohan led her to realize the link between space and time and awaken time magic, then an awakening she could achieve on her own would likely reinforce the absolute nature of space.
"If you were to awaken again… you would probably awaken the classical concept."
"Then… what do I have to do to awaken my spatial magic?"
"How would I know?"
Watching Yohan shrug, Margaret let out a hollow laugh. Right, of course.
Yohan had tried to comfort her, but she still felt sullen. After all, the power she had finally awakened had been snatched away because of someone.
Not that she could just kill Agapeite for taking her power. In a way, Agapeite was no different from herself…
"Aaargh, I don't know! It'll work out somehow!"
After her outburst, Margaret threw her arms around Yohan. When she'd been flung hundreds of years into the future, into a world of madness created by witches driven insane by the loss of Yohan, the best she could do was simply survive.
Just as she'd been told beforehand, she knew Yohan would save her. That Yohan would come for her. She had no choice but to hold on to that belief and endure.
But belief alone didn't prevent her from getting hurt.
"Hey, Yohan… Today, I… can I have you all to myself?"
Even her heart of steel had been scratched. Just as there is always soft flesh beneath a hard shell, she reacted strongly to even the smallest wound.
To heal this wound, she paradoxically needed the very person who had caused it.
"Margaret…"
"Yohaaan…"
"I'm sorry. Not today."
Just as the mood was turning sweet and intimate, Margaret was shocked by Yohan's refusal.
She never imagined she would be rejected. Isn't this the perfect time? she thought. Weren't we just about to naturally slip into... that kind of mood?
But regardless of what Margaret thought, Yohan paid her no mind and stated what he had to do.
"I promised to cut an umbilical cord."
"…An umbilical cord?"
Before she could even demand to know what he meant, Yohan left the cabin with a smile. Margaret watched his departing back with a yearning gaze, muttering the word she'd just heard over and over.
"An umbilical cord, an umbilical cord? No, why an umbilical cord all of a sudden…"
The Empire.
Though everything had collapsed after the battle with the Malyong, the Empire, having been instantly restored by the witches' power, was now enjoying an even greater boom than before its fall.
"Ohoho, do you know what this is? It's that frightfully expensive Drake Leather Bag!"
"Oh my, it suits you so well. Though not quite as well as my coat, made from Fenrir's fur…"
The Empire's bourgeoisie were enjoying the boom more than ever. In an empire where money could buy anything, wealth was tantamount to power—no, it was practically a divine power.
Knowing full well the dangers of a society steeped in materialism, Yohan frowned at the people parading around and flaunting their luxury goods.
'So it's the same even in a world without social media, huh?'
People love to show off and boast about their worth to others. That was true even in this era, which lacked social media.
He walked past people bragging about the value of their clothes and the immense power they or their husbands possessed to afford such things so casually. Finally, Yohan arrived at a building that was the furthest one could get from such snobbery.
Yohan reached a church, its golden cross gleaming, and stepped inside. A mass was in full swing.
"—And so, God spoke thus."
Watching Elesis at the front, scattering divine power as she recited from the Holy Scripture, Yohan quietly took an empty seat and began to read along.
The scripture itself was dull, but he found some enjoyment in comparing it to the Bible from Earth. It was fascinating to see how the religions of two different worlds could be so similar.
He passed the time reading the scripture, and before long, the parishioners who had been praying all rose and began to file out of the church.
Yohan waited patiently until everyone had left. Once only he and Elesis remained, he rose to his feet.
"Elesis."
"Yohan? What brings you to the church…?"
"Does one need a reason to come to church?"
At his words, a benevolent smile bloomed on Elesis's face, and she nodded. One needs no reason to come to church.
An office worker, the head of a family, even a criminal on the run.
It was a place where anyone could enter without reason and find solace for their heart and soul. That was what a church was.
"You're right. You don't need a reason to come to church. But I think you might need some tea."
"That sounds good. I was just about freezing to death."
"Wait a moment."
With those words, Elesis disappeared into her private quarters and returned with a hot drink. After taking the steaming cup and having a sip, Yohan realized it wasn't green or black tea, but coffee.
"…This is."
"It's a trendy drink called coffee. The aroma is quite nice."
"It's even more delicious with milk and sugar."
"Is that so? I'll have to remember that the next time I give some to the children."
Chuckling, Elesis began to show Yohan around the church. For what he'd considered the only ascetic building in a world of materialism, it was filled with needlessly ornate stained-glass windows, a golden cross, and a statue of God.
However, Yohan knew very well that these things hadn't been paid for by parishioners' donations, but by the state.
To be precise, they were a gift from the Emperor, meant to honor her.
"Elesis, are you pleased with the church?"
"Of course I am. Even the cardinals of the Holy Nation could never have a church like this."
"I see."
Yohan replied, taking a sip of his coffee. Noticing that he was just making idle chit-chat, Elesis tilted her head and set down her cup.
"Yohan."
"Hmm?"
"Is something troubling you?"
"No, it's not that…"
"If not that, then what is it?"
With the sharp intuition of a Holy Knight, Elesis realized Yohan was wrestling with something—something he found very awkward to tell her.
Seeing how much he was struggling to speak, she figured he couldn't possibly be turned on by the sight of her in a nun's habit. It had to be something else…
"If it's difficult to say it here, how about over there?"
Elesis pointed to the confessional. A place that completely separated the nun from the parishioner, a place to confess one's troubles to God.
Yohan figured he could speak there and immediately moved to it. As he entered the private booth, separated from the other by a partition, he felt like he was in a single-person study cubicle.
"Now, then. You can tell me anything."
Yohan pictured Elesis, unseen beyond the partition, and carefully parted his lips.
"…Did you know that the sperm of someone with magic power is much more resilient than you'd think?"
"…I did not. Is that what you were struggling so much to say?"
Elesis let out a hollow laugh at Yohan's sudden sexual harassment. Was he squirming like a dog that needed to be let out just to say something like that?
But when she heard his next words, Elesis froze.
"What that means is… when I ejaculate inside a normal woman, my sperm can survive until an egg is released."
"…What?"
"Elesis, you're pregnant."
He had seen it in the future, so he was certain.
Hearing that she was pregnant, Elesis unconsciously stroked her stomach.
She felt as if something small was stirring deep within her belly.