Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: It Was Summer
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Tik. The light on the sign Eve had made flickered off.
The magic field activated. It meant morning had broken.
"......"
The curse had fallen completely silent.
It wasn't dead—it would absorb the darkness once night fell and regain its power from the yin black stone, returning good as new.
For now, he'd wrapped it up tight in blessings and tossed it in the storeroom.
He could always pull it out later when he got bored and have some fun beating on it.
Anyway.
"Looks like it ended without a hitch."
And with that, Act 2 drew to a close.
He'd had to put in way more legwork than expected to clear it,
but he could confidently call it a success because he'd managed a "development different from the original."
"This world really is reality, after all."
The expedition with Eve had been iffy, honestly speaking.
Having Patrasche attack, followed by Eve's holy spears piercing it—that much lined up, but the boss ultimately fleeing? That didn't sit right.
So he'd wondered if the "patterns in the game were inviolable" or not.
But he'd managed to subdue a boss he'd always just gotten pummeled by, succeeding in pulling off a pattern he'd never seen in 20,000 hours of play.
His body trembled with excitement.
He wanted to pull even more tricks, mess around with even more stuff!
His stats were still puny, and he'd drop dead in one hit... but hey, this was Yi Young-jin, who would've been squashed by a delivery truck, teamed up with Wolfram, who would've died to a dagger stab. Couldn't he just live it up a little more enjoyably?
"Guess I'll crash first."
He was wiped from beating on the curse all night.
He'd been so exhausted toward the end that he'd even considered whipping up a Handy Worker auto-fortune cookie exchanger to keep pummeling it while he napped.
"Patrasche. Start regular hours from after I cleared it today. And don't take any customers who show up at the same time, except the usual regulars."
"Mm. Got it."
With that, he closed his eyes.
When he came to, it was already afternoon, and an unexpected guest was sitting in the shop.
"Eve?"
"Yup. Is sleeping through customers the store policy here? Even when regular hours weren't running, so they had to walk in."
"Even I have days like that. So, what's up?"
"Perfect, no other customers. Let's talk seriously."
"Shoot."
"Where'd you get the info on the curse?"
Her blunt question made him stare straight into Eve's eyes.
It wasn't a question—it was certainty.
Meaning the curse had visited Eve last night too.
And she'd probably handled it alone.
...Frankly, if the fortune cookies hadn't worked right, Eve would've been on a straight downhill slide from here.
"So it came for you last night too, huh."
"Yup. It showed up looking like you on the verge of death."
"How'd you handle it?"
"Shoved about five holy spears in its head, and it quieted down."
She said it with a bright smile.
In the original, without the hero of light Kelters' blessing, she couldn't do a thing—but it seemed the fortune cookies had successfully subbed in for Kelters' playstyle.
He'd tried that in the original too. Shortsword. Bare-handed. No stats or skills invested, clearing at level 1.
Of course, it'd taken countless guides, fails, and retries. He'd seen Emily's ending a ton because of it.
And the way to get past the curse in Act 2 was wearing blessing items.
Strictly speaking, his conclusion was: "Even if Kelters does nothing in combat, D/Z SAGA is clearable."
If items and specs backed you up, nothing was impossible.
"So, you handled it fine?"
"Yup. One thing I wanna ask—you get a visit from the curse too?"
"Yeah. Dealt with it. I made the talisman, after all."
"I see. Oh, right... here. Returning this. The talisman seemed effective."
"Nah, keep it."
"Meaning I'll need it going forward?"
"Mm. Pretty much."
"Hoo..."
He nodded, and Eve let out a deep sigh in response.
"What's that for?"
"Means there's a force in Jefrin targeting us."
"......Huh?"
Eve looked at him seriously and continued.
Eve von Loengrin's instincts were razor-sharp.
She started with preconceptions, sliced things cleanly,
and had an exceptional talent for piecing together what she knew.
"I have no idea what else you're hiding or how much, but piecing together just what I know, here's my deduction."
The curse had come for Eve and Wolfram.
And he'd told her to keep the talisman on her.
From that, the conclusion was...
"Meaning there's an enemy in Jefrin targeting the Loengrin bloodline. Right?"
"......"
"That's not all."
Looking at Wolfram's actions so far made it even clearer.
Wolfram had known the curse was coming.
So where'd he get that info?
From that, the conclusion was...
"There were signs of it even back during your term. Right?"
"......"
"That's not all."
The curse had stirred just a few months into her term.
And Wolfram von Loengrin had been blocking it from the shadows.
From that, the conclusion was...
"You're still fighting alone, without telling anyone around you. Right?"
"......"
"That's not all. What comes next isn't deduction or inference anymore—just hypothesis."
He didn't know what had happened during Wolfram's term.
But Wolfram couldn't talk about it. There was some "circumstance" he had to hide from those around him.
Of course, as Jefrin's ruler, Eve von Loengrin had to make him come clean.
"You're fighting alone. In the darkness, against the shadows trying to devour the Loengrin bloodline."
"......"
But look at those weary eyes. The mouth that opens like he wants to say something, then closes. The hand waving in the air before clenching into a fist.
That was the look of either being completely wrong... or being spot-on but unable to speak the truth.
But Eve von Loengrin's deductions had no holes, so she realized it meant Wolfram bore an even heavier burden—one he knew was true but couldn't voice.
In other words, Wolfram von Loengrin was arrogantly trying to protect her, with her magic power of 22.
What pissed her off more was that he'd succeeded.
If not for Wolfram, she might've been devoured by that curse. The thought weighed heavily on her chest.
In other words, she'd been helped. She'd been protected, despite her magic power of 22.
Humiliation and shame made her clench her fists, but she wouldn't deny reality.
If Wolfram wanted to antagonize her or take the student council president seat, he could've used this curse. But he hadn't.
Meaning he wasn't an immediate enemy.
On the contrary, he was diving into even deeper darkness with a massive secret even she, the student council president, didn't know.
Eve couldn't guess what that darkness was, but one thing she could tell:
"You weren't just trying to protect me. What you were guarding was the Loengrin name itself."
"......"
If they'd been devoured by the curse, who knows what scandals it would've caused. Just that alone would gravely wound imperial authority.
"You're of the same blood as me. And I realized you take pride in that lineage. Yup. At first, I figured I'd tie you up backward and make you spill everything you knew."
Eve let out a deep sigh.
She had no clue what darkness that man carried. He probably wouldn't tell her anyway.
She hated admitting it, but the guy was walking his path, believing in his own justice.
Right now, his right hand covered his mouth while his left clenched and unclenched—that was either from having his blind spot called out or from cringing so hard he was stifling a scream. But since Eve von Loengrin's deductions had no flaws, it had to be the former.
"Hoo. Fine. I'll overlook your freelance actions a bit more from now on."
"......"
"Starting now, I'm giving you a pass to Jefrin's forbidden zones. Huge perk. You know that, right?"
"......"
"The darkness in Jefrin threatening the imperial bloodline—I'm entrusting part of it to you."
"......"
"I'll become the student council president of light."
"......"
"See ya."
Eve von Loengrin.
Her analysis and deductions within the limits of her info were unparalleled.
The moment she shattered fixed ideas, she soared sky-high—it was obvious.
If she couldn't shatter them at all, fine, but half-assing it or partially breaking them? That just created her own black history. A clear flaw.
Eve left.
He'd really thought he was done for. Fighting the curse without blessings probably would've done less mental damage.
What annoyed him more was that he couldn't refute Eve's deductions.
When the other side convinced themselves, how could he say, "Actually, this world is based on the game, and what I know are the strats, so good luck"? No way.
Anyway, that serious side of Eve... actually showed up in the original too.
If Kelters saved her in Act 2 and took the happy end route.
【To dare challenge the imperial family—uncovering Jefrin's darkness is Eve von Loengrin's mission.】
【From now on, I will be the student council president of light.】
【Kelters. Help me too.】
She actually spouted lines like that.
Was that the fearless hot-blooded impulsiveness of a sixteen-year-old?
"It's summer."
Yeah.
It was summer.
The next day was unusually hot.
After Act 2 and clearing Act 3, summer break hit right away.
That summer break could lead to Act 4 depending on the heroine route, or not.
Might sound weird, but
episodes had slight time lags based on the heroine.
Act 4 kicked off the proper heroine routes.
So Isolde's started next year when she entered grad school. Eve's from summer break.
Anyway, not the point—the point was summer was coming soon.
"Looks like summer's really here. Right, Peep?"
"Yeees. Senpai. It's a bit hot."
Today's customers were Aila and Milmyu.
The walk over must've been sweltering—they fanned themselves with their hands while sipping iced smoothies.
He felt the heat a little too, of course.
The convenience store's advantage was cranking AC and heat to full for perfect temps anytime, but this? Disqualified.
"Still, the smoothies are cool, so that should help."
"Yeees. Thanks to you, it's a bit better."
"Same here..."
Good. The customers weren't stressed yet.
"If it gets much hotter, I'll have to add AC to the store. Bit extravagant, though."
"Extravagant?"
Aila shot back at his self-deprecating remark.
Eh?
Had he misunderstood?
"Considering magic stone prices, aren't cooling units kinda inefficient cost-wise?"
"Well, yeah."
Aila nodded.
"So installing one isn't extravagant?"
"What are you talking about!?"
"That big a deal?"
"It's survival for you, Wolfram!"
"......"
What?
No AC in summer and Wolfram dies?
He wasn't some idiot whose HP ticked down in percent units from a little heat...
"Ah."
But he was that idiot.
"That's why you never left the dorms in summer during your term. Just giving orders by finger-pointing to your minions. Forgot?"
"......Right."
What garbage behavior.
"That's why I was gonna ask how you'd handle this summer too."
"......"
For Wolfram, summer vacations weren't leisure—they were survival.
"Gotta go on an expedition. Need materials to make accessories..."
Yeah. There was a way.
Make accessories using ice from the northern snow mountains.
Bringing Nefti and Rudika again should work.
"The forbidden snow mountains!?"
"Mm?"
"I-I wanna go too! Wolfram!"
Aila suddenly showed massive interest.
Hm. Aila would be helpful. Cool.
"Alright. We're going."
"Yay! Making snowmen was my dream!"
"...Was?"
"My hometown's in the west. The Trista territory especially is far from any snow!"
Ah, got it.
Hm. Well, he'd indulge Aila's childlike dream.
Frontline might be short, though.
Slot Nefti in?
As he pondered,
"Um, senpai."
The freshly hatched chick spoke up.
"That expedition. I wanna come too."