Chapter 247: Book 19(2)
Chapter 247: Book 19(2)
As soon as Volume 19 was released, news spread that a Pantheon would be established in the Maishal Territory. Even those who didn't subscribe to the newspapers likely heard the rumors.
In other words, all my acquaintances who knew my identity were aware that I had received a gift from the Demons.
Cecile already knew what the gift was, so I could set her aside, but the others were dying of curiosity. They wondered exactly what kind of gift could have improved my writing speed so drastically.
After all, I used to release a new volume about once a month, but now I claimed I could churn one out every ten to fifteen days. It was only natural for them to be curious.
So, I arranged a meeting to show them the typewriter. Since I had finished all my exams, there was no problem with meeting up for the first time in a while.
Of course, I couldn't just carry the typewriter around in the open, so I had Cecile help me. Ever since Arwen’s comment about reincarnation, Cecile and I had grown much closer, and that feeling had only intensified after Volume 19 came out.
It was more than just a hunch; the way she looked at me had changed. It seemed her displays of affection were becoming more intense as her demonic cycle approached.
At any rate, with Cecile's help, I arrived at the cafe where my friends were waiting. With exams mostly behind me, I could afford to relax a little.
"Is this it?"
"Yeah."
"It looks fascinating."
When I showed them the typewriter, Mari was the first to react, her eyes rounding as she scanned it from top to bottom. The wonder and curiosity in her blue eyes made her look like a child who had just discovered a new toy.
As I watched her with a faint, satisfied smile, Mari reached out and pressed a key with her index finger.
Since the typewriter was already powered on, characters began to line up across the hologram.
"Whoa..." Mari let out a soft exclamation of admiration before pulling her finger away. The stream of characters stopped instantly.
Staring at the floating holographic text, she turned to me and asked, "So, how do you use this?"
"See that slot at the bottom? If you insert paper there, these characters are copied directly onto it."
"Incredible. What's the principle behind it?"
"I haven't the slightest clue."
I was a layman when it came to magic, let alone engineering. I had been a liberal arts major in my past life; how was I supposed to know?
Besides, even if I tried to explain the mechanics, no one there would understand except for Cecile.
"Can I try typing something?"
"Of course. Go ahead."
At Mari's request, I gently slid the typewriter toward her. She examined the device thoroughly once more before she began pressing the keys one by one with her index finger.
Watching her use the hunt-and-peck method was incredibly cute and endearing. She was so focused that she pursed her lips, her gaze darting back and forth between the keys and the hologram.
Curious about what she was writing, I shifted my gaze to the holographic display. As expected, she was typing her own name.
Whether it was Gartz, who had explained the device to me before, or anyone else, it seemed everyone in the world thought the same way.
Whirrr—
Finally, I used a spare sheet of paper I had prepared to print the text. Mari’s blue eyes sparkled with delight.
She gasped as she looked at the paper, where her name was printed in a perfectly straight, clean font.
"Wow! This is truly amazing. You said this was a gift from Helium?"
"It is a masterpiece born from the painstaking efforts of Helium's finest artisans," Cecile said, crossing her arms and puffing out her chest with pride. The gesture only served to emphasize her ample bust.
It seemed she wanted to project as much confidence and pride as her figure allowed. And she had every right to; the typewriter was a magnificent invention that could truly be called revolutionary.
Unlike a standard typewriter, it even had a backspace function. It was a masterpiece among masterpieces, a fusion of magic and engineering that leaped far ahead of its time.
"Now, Isaac, you try. I'm curious to see how you use it," Lina suggested, her eyes gleaming with interest as she elegantly sipped her tea. Despite being from the Imperial Family and having seen various types of magic, the typewriter seemed mysterious even to her.
I gladly obliged and turned the typewriter back toward me. I hesitated for a moment on what to write, then simply started typing whatever came to mind.
Clack, clack-clack-clack—
Instead of the hunt-and-peck method, I typed with practiced ease. Characters appeared, forming words, and words flowed together to complete a sentence.
Hello. My name is Isaac Ducard Maishal, the author of Xenon Biography.
It took less than ten seconds to complete the sentence. If I had written it by hand, it would have taken several times longer. It was no exaggeration to say that the typewriter made the work effortless and cut the writing time by more than half.
"What do you think?"
"That's incredibly fast. You use all your fingers."
Lina watched me with an impressed gaze, stunned by my typing speed. Mari, watching from the side, looked equally amazed.
Cecile, however, had a somewhat peculiar expression. She looked back and forth between the printed sentence and me, then tilted her head and asked, "Have you mastered it already?"
"Yeah. I got used to it after using it a few times."
"Is that so?"
For some reason, Cecile continued to watch me with that strange look. After staring at me intently for a moment, she broke into a thin smile.
"I thought as much."
"About what?"
"That you're quick to adapt to things like this, Isaac."
"..."
I had a feeling I knew what she meant by that. As I mentioned before, ever since Arwen’s reincarnation comment, Cecile suspected I was a reincarnator.
In that situation, showing her how quickly I adapted to this "new technology" was practically confirming her suspicions.
Perhaps Cecile had planned this. In my desire to show off, my habits from my previous life had slipped out.
If I tried to dodge the question now, I’d only arouse suspicion from the others. Avoiding Cecile's gaze, I gave a strained reply.
"I-I just got used to it quickly after practicing. I started out using my index fingers too. Anyway, thanks to this, my work speed has increased significantly. Thank you, truly."
"If you're thankful, you know what to do, right?"
Cecile gently stroked her lower abdomen while suggestively resting her hand on my thigh. Was it just my imagination, or was I seeing flashes of Kate in Cecile?
The difference was that Kate acted that way because she lacked common sense, whereas Cecile was driven by her own intense desires.
Just as I was about to offer an awkward laugh, unable to say anything, a timely savior intervened.
"Hey! Where do you think you're being so greedy? I believe I told you that I'm always first. You sly fox."
"Tch."
It was my lovely girlfriend, Mari. She firmly pushed Cecile's hand off my thigh and took a stand.
Cecile, knowing she had been greedy, didn't argue further, though she looked disappointed.
However, even if she was backing down, she had to have the last word. Cecile glanced at Mari and grumbled under her breath.
"Could you consider those of us who are waiting? Even if I'm a Demon with a long lifespan, waiting is still hard."
"I thought Demons considered restraint a virtue? Surely the Princess isn't lacking in such a virtue?"
"..."
When Mari poked at the concept of restraint—which was practically a core tenet for Demons—Cecile gave an awkward smile, looking a bit embarrassed.
In truth, Cecile possessed strong restraint as a Demon, but she was expressing her greed for me without any filter. This had become even more pronounced after her meeting with Arwen.
The same went for Mari. Sensing that Cecile's attitude was unusual through her sharp intuition, her guard had become significantly higher.
Though, to me, it just looked like a tiny white kitten baring its teeth. To soften Mari's fierce expression, I gently stroked her hair.
Even though she wasn't a Beastkin, Mari's defensive expression melted away as I petted her. She then clung to my arm and leaned her head in, as if asking for more.
Mari was always cute. That seemed to be a universal law.
"...Anyway, Isaac. You've heard the news, right? About the temple being built in your territory."
Lina brought up the situation in our territory to change the awkward atmosphere.
I looked at Lina while continuing to stroke Mari's head as she rubbed her face against my arm. I decided to ignore Cecile's disgruntled expression for a moment.
"Of course I heard. I was so baffled when I found out. Has the Imperial Family said anything?"
"As you said, a temple isn't something that can be built just because a Cardinal insists on it. Normally, it requires an agreement between the leaders of each nation. The same goes for Helium."
Lina looked at Cecile as she spoke, a silent request for her to explain further.
Sensing that the conversation had turned serious, Cecile shrugged and spoke in a calm tone.
"Lina is right. Normally, temples are built after an agreement between leaders. But this time is different. The Minerva Empire readily accepted the proposal."
"They accepted it immediately?"
"Yes. From what I can see, it looks like they plan to turn the Maishal Territory into a 'Xenon District' entirely... Am I wrong?"
Cecile smiled thinly as she posed the question to Lina. It was a beautiful smile on the surface, but it carried heavy political weight.
Lina, recognizing the meaning behind the smile, gave a faint grin before picking up her teacup. After taking an elegant sip, she spoke in a composed voice.
"That's right. Since Isaac mentioned he would write a side story for the Demons, things progressed rapidly. Furthermore, a temple for Luminous is also being built, so it will truly become a territory dedicated to Xenon."
"...Helium aside, was the Luminous temple agreed upon beforehand?"
"No. Cardinal Kate pushed that through almost by force."
"What?"
There were rumors that the Luminous temple would be completed just before the exhibition. This meant that construction had only recently begun.
Usually, it would take at least several months for leaders to meet and reach an agreement, but all of that had been bypassed.
If the number of Luminous temples increased, the power of the Holy Nation 'Savior' would naturally grow as well. Therefore, an increase in temples wasn't always a good thing.
That was why every side usually underwent strict negotiations before a new temple was built, yet the Maishal Territory was proceeding without any of that.
In a serious sense, it was a blatant disregard for the Minerva Empire, but for some reason, no one was complaining.
"Won't people have a lot to say about that?"
"They did at first, but then Cardinal Kate declared she would establish a Holy Land for Xenon."
"A Holy Land?"
"Yes. Just like Albenheim is a Holy Land in itself, she declared Xenon's birthplace a Holy Land. I think she views you as an Incarnation of the God."
The term 'Incarnation' appeared in theology as well. It referred to people like Saints or Saintesses who were chosen by God to save the world from crisis.
Kate, who possessed immense Divine Power through Luminous's blessing, was more than qualified to be called an Incarnation, but it seemed she viewed me as one instead.
However, I had only obtained Divine Power through a series of pure coincidences. I was definitely not the Incarnation she thought I was.
I was beyond flustered—I was dumbfounded, unable to find words—when Lina continued her explanation in a gentle tone.
"Furthermore, after purging the fallen Cardinals, Cardinal Kate now wields the strongest influence within Savior, second only to the Pope. Since someone with that much influence declared it a Holy Land, the Empire had no choice but to permit it unless they had a valid reason to refuse. Besides, it's beneficial for our Empire as well."
"Sigh... There won't be any harm to the Maishal Territory, right? Getting tangled up in politics is a pain."
It wasn't that I hated it; it was just a hassle. My father, in particular, had accepted the Maishal Territory specifically because he loathed the political infighting of the nobility.
I wanted to avoid my family suffering because of me if at all possible.
"Well. Do you really think anyone could politically harass you? The Maishal Territory, which enjoys the protection of Luminous, Mora, and perhaps even Hirt? In the future, if you inherit the title of Lord and things go sour, you could even declare a Holy War. If that happens, not just Savior, but Helium would step in as well."
Lina's answer made my worries seem trivial. In fact, she seemed more baffled by my concern than anything else.
Thanks to her, I realized exactly what kind of situation our territory was in. It meant that even touching us would come with an enormous risk.
If that was the case, my family could live in peace. Relieved, I nodded in satisfaction.
"That's a relief, then. Though the pressure is a bit much."
"You'll get used to that pressure over time. My husband is truly amazing."
Mari, who had been enjoying my petting, rubbed her face against me affectionately. As she did, she subtly stroked my thigh.
Mari didn't seem to care whether I was Xenon or not; she looked at me for who I was.
She was simply happy because I was rising to a higher position. I loved this side of her so much.
Should I just go for it?
For a moment, I even had such a wicked thought. But for the sake of her future, I knew I had to be diligent with contraception.
I carefully took her hand as if acknowledging her secret signal. Mari’s smile deepened.
Perhaps finding our display of affection a bit much, Lina blushed and cleared her throat.
"Ahem. Anyway, Cecile. When is Lady Mora's temple expected to be completed?"
"It will probably all be finished before the exhibition."
"What? That fast? Is that even possible?"
"With magic, the construction itself is quite fast. Instead, it takes some time to summon Lady Mora to the temple."
I wasn't even surprised anymore. I suppose they invented things like typewriters because they had that kind of magic.
After saying that, Cecile clapped her hands together as if she had just remembered something.
"Oh. Speaking of which, Isaac. Can I ask you one thing?"
"Yeah?"
"Last time, you said I was the model for Lilith. And you said you'd include illustrations accordingly."
"I did."
However, that plan had been scrapped when Xenon Biography suddenly started being treated as a book of prophecy.
How many women in the world were as unique and beautiful as Cecile? If her drawings were included, there would certainly have been some blowback for her.
That was why the matter had been put on hold, and Cecile had agreed. But it seemed her mind had changed with the release of Volume 19.
"Don't you think we can include them now? Lilith's evil deeds won't be justified, but the public's perception of her has improved significantly. Mari, you know too, right? Lilith exited while calling out her lover's name at the end."
"Ah, that? I know. That scene was so sad. I really wanted Pride to just drop dead, though."
"What about you, Lina?"
"I think she's no different from the Demons in reality."
"You heard them, right?"
After hearing Mari and Lina's opinions, Cecile asked me one last time. I met Cecile's eyes with a complicated expression.
What on earth was she thinking, bringing up the illustrations now?
Did she really think she was Lilith? Honestly, that was where my thoughts were heading.
Still, I couldn't refuse when she asked like that. I reluctantly nodded and granted her request.
"Alright. But the drawings..."
"Helium can provide support for the drawings. If you provide the character descriptions, we'll draw the other characters too."
Just as I was about to suggest finding an illustrator later, Cecile beat me to it. She said they would support not just Lilith, but other characters if I wanted.
I looked Cecile straight in the eye once more. She was still smiling thinly, watching me with her deep red eyes.
In those eyes, there was a mix of deep trust in me and an indefinable emotion.
It wasn't scary or unpleasant at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite, which made me wonder.
"Noona?"
"Yes, Isaac."
"Do you really think I'm a prophet?"
So, I asked. And Cecile answered with a bright smile.
"Yes. Of course."
Arwen's reincarnation comment from before, and Lilith's end described at the conclusion of Volume 19.
"Because I don't want to meet an end like that."
It seemed those two things had combined to create a perfect synergy, leading Cecile to her conclusion.
"So, I'd like to have Isaac's child as soon as possible."
"..."
I was left speechless.