Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Festival Preparations
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“That should be enough, right?”
Outside the academy, in a dessert shop in the city. I asked Pindenai, who was stuffing her face with her hands while complaining that forks pissed her off. She replied indifferently.
“It’s worse than I expected.”
Pindenai had many talents.
Her combat prowess went without saying, along with her leadership to guide people and the charisma to command the revolutionary army.
Even her beast-like senses weren’t something one could acquire through talent alone.
But personally, I suspected her greatest talent was getting on my nerves.
“Do you know how many cakes you’ve shoved in your mouth just now?”
“No idea.”
“Look at the plates next to you.”
A towering stack of plates.
It was a sight you’d only see at a conveyor-belt sushi joint. As I glared at Pindenai accusingly, she popped the last piece of chocolate cake into her mouth and answered.
“*Slurp*. I think grilling meat suits me better.”
“Sigh. It’s my fault for expecting manners from a wolf.”
I let out a sigh and stood from my seat. Pindenai followed behind me, smacking her lips for no reason.
After paying an amount that couldn’t even qualify as a single meal, I grabbed the boxed cakes and stepped outside. Pindenai was snickering for some reason.
Not wanting to get swept up in her mood, I changed the subject.
“Honestly, I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d want to eat dessert.”
“Huh? Actually, I didn’t really want to eat it that much.”
I stopped in my tracks.
I stared at Pindenai, and she stared back at me steadily.
She’d been sulking lately because I’d told her to leave me alone in the Marias Great Forest. When I told her to say whatever she wanted to cheer her up, she’d asked for dessert.
But she didn’t even want it?
Does she know how much that cost? If Deia found out, she’d grab the nearest thing and hurl it at me while cursing me out as a lunatic.
“I was just thinking about the most efficient way to empty your wallet, Master.”
“……”
“Wow, Master. You spent that much on me? I’m touched. What should I do in return?”
She poked my side with her elbow.
Yeah, that’s the kind of woman she was.
No, better to just call her a beast.
“Fine, one request.”
“O? What is it? Backed up? Want me to help you let it all out?”
“Shut that mouth of yours.”
I gritted my teeth as I spoke, and Pindenai mimed zipping her lips before clamping them shut.
With things a bit quieter now, I felt slightly more at ease.
On the way, I stopped by Iluania’s hotel and handed over the desserts before heading straight back to the lab.
“Wow! Thank you!”
“T-This place is super expensive, though?”
[...It looks delicious.]
I shared some with Owen and Professor Per too, then picked up the last boxed one.
“What’s that? Where are you going?”
“Someone I need to give it to. And I told you not to talk.”
“*Pfft*, you’re such a cheapskate.”
“……”
“Ah, yes! Sorry! Should I stuff a gag in my mouth? I hear that’s your thing.”
Ignoring Pindenai’s question, I left the lab. My destination was Erika’s lab.
It wasn’t like I was visiting for no reason—I had a specific request.
After knocking, I entered. Erika, who’d been reviewing paperwork, flinched slightly.
She cleared her throat awkwardly and glanced at her assistants, who dropped what they were doing and hurried out.
“Excuse us.”
“Have a good time.”
“We’ll come back if you call.”
Their parting words carried some strange consideration, but I ignored it.
“Ahem. What brings you here?”
Erika asked nonchalantly, pretending not to have heard her assistants.
I held out the small box with the cake and set it on her desk.
“Brought it since it was good.”
“Oh, for me?”
“...Who else is here if not you?”
Erika looked flustered, clearly not expecting me to bring her something like this. But she soon smiled softly and took it.
“Thanks.”
A brief silence fell.
No need to waste time, so I got straight to the point.
“I heard you’ve fallen out with the Bright Family.”
“...Uh, um.”
Maybe I’d hit too close to home. Erika scratched her cheek awkwardly and nodded.
“I told Gideon I wouldn’t marry him, and they kicked me out right away. But it’s fine. I’m old enough to stand on my own, right?”
She shrugged as if it were nothing. In truth, she’d changed from the Erika Bright I used to know—she was confident now, living life on her own terms.
Shoulders back, eyes brimming with self-assurance. It was truly beautiful.
“Yeah, but with the Zeronia Family collapsing this time, their stance must have shifted too.”
“......”
The massive financial hit from the memorial for the Setima villagers’ massacre and the donations, plus the Marias Tribe invading under Setima’s name—they’d even been pushed to the front lines.
From what I’d heard, before I arrived, the Zeronia Family’s private forces had been nearly wiped out, and Gideon Zeronia was hospitalized with injuries.
“That’s true. And the family’s been trying to get me back. I even got a letter a few days ago.”
She opened a drawer, pulled out a letter stamped with the Bright Family crest, and held it out.
“But it’s not because they actually need me.”
She’d always been a daughter meant for political use. It wasn’t gratitude for stopping the irreversible mistake of marrying into the Zeronia Family.
“It’s because you’re engaged to me. To put it bluntly, they need you.”
My position as a necromancer had solidified even further through this war. In short, the Bright Family wanted to latch onto the necromancer line.
“Yeah.”
I’d expected as much, so I replied flatly.
“Set up a meeting. I’ll go with you.”
“...Huh?”
Erika blinked, not understanding. I repeated myself for her sake.
“Let’s go to the Bright Family together. I need them too.”
“W-Wait. What? For real?”
“If we just show up, they’ll get suspicious. We’ll package it as a formal meeting. I’ll call Darius separately too.”
Her cool expression crumbled into bewilderment, her hands fidgeting restlessly.
“Th-Then what about the engagement dissolution letter?”
She asked cautiously.
“Sorry, but put it on hold for now. You can give it to me anytime after we get back.”
“...Ah.”
Erika’s face cooled, bitterness settling in. I spoke calmly, pretending not to notice.
“Please.”
“Fine, got it. I hate going back home, but I’d love to see those guys grovel in front of you.”
I exchanged simple greetings and left the lab. I felt a bit sorry seeing her deflated like that.
‘I don’t want to tie her down in this life either.’
From what Aria told me, in the first playthrough, I’d married Erika.
Not out of love, but simply because I needed her. She’d nursed my sick self and even gone through with the marriage.
This time, I could do something for her.
Of course, it wasn’t just for Erika’s sake.
‘Dante’s movements are unusual.’
They were stirring up trouble sooner than expected. In the original game, the name Dante wouldn’t have even surfaced at this point.
Because of my presence, they were more active, so I planned to prepare accordingly.
‘Headache.’
There was only one reason Dante gave me a headache.
Their ultimate plan was genuinely the path to saving the continent.
In the first playthrough, Aria killed Dante’s leader, but they couldn’t prevent the continent’s life-and-death boundary from collapsing.
‘I need a way to replace their plan.’
Until I found it, I had no choice but to leave that bundle of variables alone.
With those thoughts, I returned to the lab. Unlike when I left, it was quite noisy now.
Pindenai and Professor Per were clutching what looked like a notice and chattering excitedly, with Owen chiming in to push his own ideas.
An unexpected sight.
As soon as they saw me, all three pairs of eyes locked onto me, and they rushed over babbling.
“*Mmph-mmph-mmph!*”
“......”
“*Mmph-mmph-mmph!*”
Pindenai reached me first. Somehow, she’d actually gotten a gag from somewhere and was drooling around it while trying to explain something to me.
“Sigh. Take it off.”
“*Pfft*! Master! Look at this! The academy’s holding a festival?”
“P-Professor Deus. They’re saying each lab can have one stall or display their achievements!”
“N-Necromancer! How about a concert?”
The three of them fired off their ideas. I snatched the notice from Pindenai’s hand and checked it.
A paper boldly declaring ‘Robern Summer Festival’. Late summer now.
Come to think of it, the game had festival periods too, with events that gave stat boosts or items.
“Hm.”
The notice instructed each professor’s lab to submit achievements or set up stalls. I wasn’t planning to raise Aria as a hero anymore, so it held little interest for me, but the others seemed different.
“How about a battle arena? Everyone piles in and beats the crap out of each other!”
Pindenai with her nonsense.
“I-It’s a chance to show my research! I just made an amazing prosthetic arm? Stab it and it goes *pssh-pssh*! Blood sprays out!”
Professor Per Petra, turning the students’ festival into a gorefest.
“And music... wouldn’t that work?”
Even Owen, subtly craving the stage.
Listening to them, I sighed and replied.
“Do whatever you want.”
I didn’t have the bandwidth to worry about that.