Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: How to Steal the Protagonist's Woman
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Armonia, good morning~"
"There is no such thing as morning here, but good morning to you."
Armonia corrected my greeting as she returned it.
She was diligently mopping the ship's corridor by hand with a long mop.
The cleaning Armonia was dressed in a sailor uniform.
...Not the kind high school girls wear.
It was genuine sailor attire.
A sailor suit with black fabric patterned by white stripes.
"Armonia, do you always wear that outfit when cleaning?"
"Yes. Wearing regulation attire is important."
"Oh..."
I pulled out my notebook and jotted it down.
Scribble scribble.
One more item added to my wishlist.
I wrote 'sailor suit' in my notebook and looked back at Armonia.
Armonia was staring intently at my notebook.
"...?"
"Hm? What?"
"I looked because it seemed like you were writing something."
"...You don't need to know."
"...?"
Armonia's eyes wouldn't leave the notebook.
She's prying... I said she doesn't need to know, but she keeps staring...
I pretended not to notice and pocketed the notebook.
Viola approached from a distance.
She was wearing a modest dress suitable for the place where I used to live.
"Ms. Armonia, I've finished cleaning over there. Suho, you're awake?"
"Yeah, Viola's so diligent."
"Cleaning is so much fun!"
"Haha... Good to hear."
Oh my god...
That hellhole didn't even have anything to clean.
From Viola's perspective now, cleaning was just another form of play.
To her, this place was paradise on earth.
Even though the ship's interior was limited, it was free.
And there were companions.
She'd been a bit wary of Armonia at first, but she warmed up quickly.
As long as the other person didn't push her away, Viola was the type to cling right on.
It had been a week since Viola arrived here.
When she first came, I'd explained the place to her.
It's a ship called Kivotos, from NTL Corporation, something something...
And what she said after hearing me out was...
-What's a ship?-
-Uh... Like a boat.-
-What's a boat?-
-Uh... Something that floats around on the sea.-
-What's the sea?-
-...-
Viola's mind was a total blank slate.
I wondered if she actually knew more about sex than common sense.
In the end, on Armonia's recommendation, we started with basic literacy education.
We were using educational videos, which were far more effective than Armonia or me teaching directly.
Viola spent all her time watching TV unless we were gathered chatting like this.
She loves cartoons so much...
And the bedrooms.
This area had the Kivotos cockpit (including warp room), two offices, and one living quarters.
I was staying in one office, and Viola in the remaining living quarters.
That said, I hadn't slept in my office once so far.
I hugged Viola from behind.
"S-Suho... M-Ms. Armonia's watching..."
"Heh heh, I know..."
"Eek...!"
"...?"
Armonia's blank expression only excited me more.
Ever since coming here, I'd slept in Viola's bedroom without fail, every single night.
Especially because...
Viola's living quarters were right next to Armonia's office.
What must she be thinking while listening to our lovemaking sounds?
Just imagining it sent shivers down my spine.
But our fun with Viola was interrupted by Armonia.
"Suho, I have something to discuss about today's mission."
"Huh, now?"
"Yes, I was planning to tell you after you woke up."
"Ugh... Fine. Viola, I'll be right back."
"Hng... Okay."
I let go of the reluctant Viola and headed to my office with Armonia.
Armonia told me to go ahead to my office from in front of hers.
"Please wait in your office, and I'll finish up and come right over."
"Sure."
I heard her enter her office, and then it hit me—did we really need to do this in my office?
"Wait, if we're just chatting casually, couldn't we do it in Armonia's office?"
I turned right around and walked into Armonia's office.
"Armonia, just here in... uh..."
"...?"
"Uh...?"
What I saw was Armonia, just in the middle of taking off her sailor top.
Snow-white skin contrasting with silver hair, wearing a black bra.
She glanced at me briefly, then resumed changing.
Jackpot, her panties are black too...
Without a hint of embarrassment even with me watching, she stripped off her top and bottoms and started putting on her suit.
Watching Armonia, I learned one thing about her.
Armonia's the type who takes off her top first...
I'm a bottoms-first guy myself...
Armonia calmly finished changing and approached me.
"I said I'd come to you—what brings you here?"
"Uh... I thought we could just do it here..."
"No. Your office has better facilities than mine, so I thought it best to use that one."
"Uh... Okay."
Wow, her expression didn't change at all...
Is she actually some kind of cyborg?
The moment I'm about to collect enough Enel for that sex!
Armonia snaps her head toward me with a click...
(Click, I am a cyborg.)
Chills...
Armonia and I entered my office.
I sat in my desk chair, and Armonia stood beside me like a secretary and began her report.
Armonia updated me on the aftermath of the previous commission.
"The Hero is currently crossing the continent's desert, wreaking havoc in that city while searching for his sister."
"...He actually crossed the desert?"
"Yes. Thanks to what you wrote, he's exceeding expectations in performance."
Back then, I'd vaguely written in Viola's letter that he'd cross the desert.
I'd scribbled it without much thought.
Apparently, he's especially rampaging in that country beyond the desert where slave trading is legal.
That nation is going all-out to capture the Hero...
"How long did crossing the desert take?"
"Estimated at about five days."
"...For a normal person?"
"A regular human without transport would need at least three months. In other words, it's impossible."
"...Insane. But wouldn't anyone think it's impossible if they know it's a three-month trek?"
"It seems he lacks even that much rationality."
"Wow..."
According to Armonia's additional report, Crell Village had vanished.
Witnesses said a massive pit of fire suddenly appeared in the village, vaporizing it...
"Man... I thought he'd just take out the village chief and call it a day. Nope."
"From that info alone, it's clear you properly ignited the Hero's rage."
She explained that the resistance army, now without the Hero, was falling into total chaos.
However, the scandals about the Hero hadn't spread yet.
It had only been a week, so it seemed unlikely they'd propagate that quickly.
Maybe it'd just get swept under the rug...
Armonia said that if the Hero kept up his '3,000-ri sister search,' he could not only reverse the tide but flip the board entirely.
In a way, he was truly impressive.
"I'll keep you updated on any further intel."
"Okay~"
"Now, about the missions we'll be taking going forward."
Armonia projected a screen onto my desk.
A long list scrolled on the display.
"Because of your handling of the last mission, we've received far more commissions than expected."
"Oh... Before, it was just the one, right?"
"Yes. And Zodiac considered even that one outside their interests. They didn't think we'd be much help."
"Yeah, what were they gonna expect from total newbies."
There was no need to view Zodiac's actions negatively.
It was only natural.
They probably figured if we failed, it'd just be '2 million Enel down the drain.'
Armonia said she'd only been receiving mission details for the past week without accepting any.
If they'd bitten on something decent only for a better one to come later, it'd be a loss, so she'd taken a brief hiatus, she explained.
"More importantly, starting with this mission, I propose we handle things differently from before."
"Huh? How so?"
"First, let me explain long-term and short-term missions."
Armonia explained she'd categorized the incoming missions into two types.
Long-term and short-term.
Long-term missions involved receiving Enel support in installments over extended periods for prolonged execution.
Short-term ones were like before: upfront payment, quick resolution expected.
For long-term, Zodiac arranged allowances for gaps where other missions could be taken.
Since the arrangements varied, she'd inform me upon receipt.
"Long-term are listed from one to ten years. Short-term by era stability."
"...Ten years?"
"Yes, but I don't recommend it. I'd advise blocking clients who offer such commissions."
"Let's leave it for now. You never know. But still, it's not like we're slaves..."
Not all Zodiac members are the same.
Commissions come individually from gods' proxies affiliated with Zodiac, not the organization itself.
We couldn't blindly call them bad without knowing details, but ten years was too much...
"My personal recommendation is this one."
"Three years... Magic school?"
"Yes, the era is similar to before—a medieval setting."
This mission was medieval like the last.
Unlike before, though, no wars, a peaceful place.
"Crell was peaceful too, but just there..."
"Yes, I doubt we'll face life-threatening dangers like before."
The starting point was enrolling in Schutra Magic School, the continent's top elite institution.
Enrollment required being over 20 with sufficient talent.
But it was far from an ordinary school.
Schutra Magic School—the world's sole magic academy.
Even royalty bowed to enroll.
My mission: seduce the woman of the protagonist slated to be top enrollee.
The issue was...
"He doesn't have a girlfriend yet."
"Ah~ No girlfriend, but there's someone he has feelings for~?"
"Yes. Zodiac chose this as a long-term commission for that reason."
Sure, no relationship meant less mental devastation, but still doable.
Shattering bulletproof glass takes more than one shot.
You need a barrage of lead.
Only then does it go 'hallelujah~' and ascend.
"The best part of long-term missions is weekly Enel support."
"Hm... Sounds good, but if we fail later, don't we have to pay it back?"
"Failure would lower trust, but Enel support is a base condition—no need to return it."
"That's a relief."
No penalties like cancellation fees.
Plus, long-term success rewards were set extremely high.
"Commission success reward: 10 million Enel."
"Wow."
Worth the long-term haul.
"Then just 30 long-term successes and... heh heh..."
"...Yes, you'd reach your goal."
Armonia said summoning me cost 30 million Enel total.
Ten times that is 300 million.
An enormous sum, no doubt.
But to me, it was just a number.
Games always have an end.
'A game without an ending is trash,' they say.
And that ending is surely...
I grinned sleazily at Armonia.
"Heh heh heh heh..."
"...?"
Armonia stared at me expressionlessly.
...Did I grin too creepily?