Act 1: Travel Kingdom (Complete)

Albrox had taken heavy damage and fled, and the situation began to settle down bit by bit.

"Cough..."

"Lady Arié!!"

Having overexerted herself casting that spell just now, Arié started vomiting blood little by little.

"Heal!"

I didn't have much mana left after using Divine Punishment myself, but I could manage one Heal.

"Tch... Ha... I'm fine. I must've pushed a bit too hard..."

The blood from her mouth stopped flowing, but Arié's overheated body showed no signs of cooling down.

"Haa... I'm okay... I'll recover after some rest..."

I tried to carry Arié on my back to the cathedral for treatment, but she stopped me.

"I'm really fine... Just take me to my room... please..?"

"...Got it."

I laid her down on the bed in her room and stayed by her side.

"...So, what was that all about?"

"It's something I've been researching for a long time: altering the properties of mana. I twisted my mana into a different property and used it temporarily."

"...Of course, it forces the mana circulation to twist unnaturally, putting a huge strain on the body..."

Only then did everything Arié had done click into place for me. Holy power was normally only usable by church NPCs like saints and priests, or players with priest or holy knight classes. But Arié had forcibly converted her mana properties to wield holy power. Nothing was more effective against demons than holy attributes, after all.

"...Thank you. For everything."

"No big deal. You asked me first, after all."

"Thanks to you... I could successfully complete my research. That's all."

As she said that, Arié's hand gripping mine was incredibly hot.

"...Hold on. Let me grab an ice pack. Your hand's burning up."

Thud— Arié tightly clutched my hand as I tried to leave, stopping me in place.

"...Don't go. Stay here."

Her eyes looked somehow desperate as she said it, so in the end, I sat back down.

"...Your body's too hot. Would it be okay if I touched you to cool it down?"

"W-What..?! My body..."

Arié blushed for some reason, hesitated a moment, then nodded.

I infused a gentle chill into my hand and placed it on her forehead. Intense heat radiated against my palm.

"Hngh..."

One hand on her forehead, the other holding hers, I focused on cooling her feverish body for a while.

"Huu... Ah..!"

...While listening to Arié's embarrassingly moan-like sounds.

I casually ignored the chat's reactions, as usual.

Favorability up as a bonus.

......

The cleanup happened faster than expected. 1st Prince Calis was sentenced to death for colluding with the demon, leaving the successor position vacant as a matter of course.

"..."

Arié, now much calmer, and I stepped outside the room to survey the scene before us.

"Then who becomes the successor now?!"

"I heard the princess used holy power!"

"The 2nd prince fought the demon bravely, unlike the rumors!"

We watched Yurién helping tidy up the broken debris and King Leopold sweating ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠profusely in front of the crowd.

"...By the way, what will you do about the princess?"

"You mean the successor position?"

"...Yeah."

"You know I have no interest in the throne. Let Yurién have it or whatever."

"Talking with you is way more fun than dealing with that stuff anyway."

"Ahaha..."

Arié smiling like that still felt unfamiliar.

......

"...You're more suited for this than me, Sis."

"Nah, I've said forever I won't do successor."

"Well, you're smart enough to be a great king anyway."

In the end, the successor seat went to 2nd Prince Yurién. Arié was originally next in line, but since she refused, the opportunity passed to Yurién.

"...Do well. I know you can."

"...Thanks, Sis."

Yurién ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turned to look at me and gave a slight bow of gratitude.

"Your Highness..? No need for that. It makes me uncomfortable."

"...Noel, it feels like I only receive from you. I owe this position entirely to your help. Thank you. Sincerely."

"Ahh... That's the one..!"

"Thank you! Truly thank you!"

"That magic earlier was awesome!"

A crowd surged toward me with thanks, leaving me a bit burdened but inwardly proud.

......

"Noel. Father's summoning you. Alone."

After receiving everyone's gratitude, I heard King Leopold had called for me.

"Understood. I'll head right over."

I opened the somewhat grand door and slowly entered the audience chamber. Strangely, the king's knights were absent, leaving only Leopold on the central throne.

As I knelt to greet him, he waved me off.

"...Living long brings endless regrets."

Leopold continued, looking at me.

"I wasn't a good father to those boys. Who knew Arié could smile like that."

He looked like a lion without fangs—somehow lonely and bitter.

"...Take good care of those two from now on."

"...Yes."

"I'm grateful to you in many ways. You helped avert the kingdom's crisis, rooted out the rot, and guided Arié and Yurién on the right path."

"So, I'll grant you a reward."

Reward. I was honestly looking forward to it. Title or 1 million gold would be great, but...

??? (First Clear Limited). That felt like something huge.

Hm. Standard rewards.

"You're... a witch. Time to hand over what she left behind."

"...Huh?"

"Yes. She said if her successor great witch came, to give her this hat."

I decided to check the hat's effects later and wrap up here first.

......

After the meeting with the king, I headed to my room and checked the item I'd received from my inventory.

"...Wow."

I equipped the hat and tested a spell.

"... Fire Ball."

The Fire Ball, which normally took 2 seconds to cast, fired in 1 second. I didn't know exactly how much effect 2 boosted efficiency, but it was clearly ridiculous.

"...Let's check the other thing."

"Eh... Pretty decent, I guess."

The extra 5% intelligence was nice, but not as good as my current Savior of Stories, so I left it unequipped.

"Come to think of it... I could only help Arié because I'm the great witch's successor."

"...Gotta treat her even better from now on."

"Oh, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right, training after this. Let's go."

......

"Noel... Wha?!"

Asella ran toward me but suddenly stopped short.

"That hat...!"

I grinned and handed the hat to Asella.

"Exactly what you're thinking."

"H-How did you... get this..?"

Asella examined the hat from every angle with a stunned expression.

"Whoa... Whoaaa.... This is Priscilla's..."

Asella gulped, eyeing it greedily—it was kinda cute—but even for her, I couldn't give it away.

[Priscilla's Witch Hat (Soulbound)] Soulbound from the start anyway.

Asella shook her head and returned the hat.

"It's yours, so I won't ask for it. But... can you do me one favor?"

"...Yes, I'll definitely do it."

"...Yay!"

"You worked hard today, so rest well. Starting training tomorrow isn't too late."

"Thanks for worrying, but I'm fine. We had a promise."

"...Fine, just one simple thing then. You had a tough day. Okay?"

"Sounds good. Thanks again for worrying."

......

The skill Asella taught was Curse Stacking, allowing multiple curses to be layered at once. As she said, it wasn't hard, so I picked it up quickly.

Right now, Asella was sitting on my lap as I recounted tales from Travel Kingdom.

"Know what was hardest infiltrating as a servant?"

"What?"

"No cleaning magic tools. Couldn't use Clean and get caught, so I cleaned by hand... brutal."

"Ahahat! Yeah, mages rely on magic and suck at manual labor..."

......

After spilling all the stories, I finally left Asella's room. Back in my room, it was time to end the 10-hour stream.

"Alright... Thanks to everyone who stuck around till the end. It was a long 10 hours."

The wholesome chat vibe made me smile. Viewers had hit 2,700—solid growth.

"...Donations piled up again. Like last time, I'll read all the big ones and end the stream."

"Ria donated 820k total, Sora 800k, Narterin 530k, Eumsiin... Wait, sis why are you here... Anyway, 300k thanks..."

I called out all donors over 10k and logged out of Lost World.

"Ow..."

...Vowing to end the stream before Lost World next time.