Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Ch. 8 .｡.:✧ Yulia Petenburg (2) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Phew. I thought you were trying to commit suicide.”
“Su-su-suicide? N-no! Not that!”
Her flustered explanation reeked of perplexity.
Of course, I realized it wasn’t a suicide attempt the moment I saw her face, but I decided to keep that a secret. I had to pretend I was seeing Yulia Petenburg for the first time here today.
“B-by the way… How did you know I was Yulia Petenburg…?”
“You’re famous. You’ve appeared in magazines several times. I always made sure to check them out.”
“Aaaaah!”
She touched her face, and in an instant, Yulia’s face turned bright red. It seemed she realized what state she was in.
Her curly black hair was disheveled and a mess, unlike in the magazines. Her eyes, with no makeup applied at all, had dark circles prominently showing. Wearing a tacky hoodie and even stuttering, she just looked like a typical gloomy loser girl.
Even someone who knew Yulia probably wouldn’t be able to imagine that this was the charismatic Yulia.
“I, I! I think I should get going now!”
“Go ahead.”
“Ah, um. Uh, excuse me…!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep today’s meeting a secret. We never met today.”
“Th-thank you…”
Bow. Bow. Bow.
Yulia, who bowed her waist 90 degrees three times following the second, quickly walked away.
It was a brief encounter, but that was enough. I had already made an impression on her.
I saw your true self. But far from being surprised, I actually liked your true self. And I had no intention of blabbing about this to others.
Just subtly conveying this meaning would have made Yulia take a liking to me.
Around the time I was smiling with satisfaction, I realized.
“Right. Name.”
The fact that I didn’t tell her my name.
***
“Tsk. They knew we were coming all along. Shady bastards.”
Thud, thud.
Jill’s footsteps walking down the hotel corridor were filled with displeasure.
It was probably because of the men in suits who came to the hotel in the morning, welcomed her to Petenburg, said a carriage was prepared on the 1st floor, and told her to come down when ready.
That’s right. Petenburg already knew we had arrived a day early and were sightseeing. They even figured out which room we were staying in despite checking in under an alias.
It was creepy enough to give me goosebumps.
“We can’t hold hands and walk from now on.”
“I know that. At least let me hold it in the elevator…”
“Are you nervous?”
“Of course I’m nervous. The nerve of those upstart demihumans…”
Jill ground her teeth. She had every right to be angry.
A letter had arrived at the mansion in Hameln some time ago. Inside was a complaint. It was a complaint with all the forms filled out so that it could be filed with the court right away.
“Doesn’t this make no sense? Me copying Petenburg’s technology? Huh?”
The complaint stated that Jill Diner’s healing magic infringed on the rights owned by the Petenburg Foundation regarding the core principles of the elixir.
With no other letter accompanying it, just the complaint, the intent was clear. It was blackmail.
Jill immediately tore up the complaint, laughed it off as nonsense, but she had to book train tickets to Petenburg right away. Because it was true that Jill had clearly infringed on Petenburg’s rights.
In the game, it was an element introduced as a twist, but to me who knew the entire outcome, Jill just looked like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse and throwing a fit.
“Ugh. My head feels like it’s going to split. Are you okay, Yoo-jin? You drank more than me yesterday.”
“I’m fine. I can handle alcohol pretty well.”
“I didn’t do anything weird while drunk, right? Right?”
“Yes. You slept soundly.”
“Thank goodness…”
She did do something weird, actually. Imitating a cat.
She even tried to smother me with kisses while grabbing my cheeks right before completely falling asleep, so I had a tough time stopping her. She kept trying to run away, so she even clung to me, wrapping her legs around me.
I wanted to receive kisses while she was sober. I wanted to directly witness Jill’s face getting embarrassed and going crazy in real-time, so I endured it.
“We’ve arrived. I’ll guide you to the top floor.”
The carriage soon stopped, and as we stepped outside, a tall skyscraper came into view. It was a building modeled after the Empire State Building.
Jill, who had to crane her neck to look up, was momentarily overwhelmed by its grandeur and gulped, but soon hardened her expression as if it was nothing.
The elevator was silent the entire way up to the top floor, which was over the 50th floor. Facilities that drew water and mana all the way up to the 50th floor.
Usually, when it exceeded 10 floors, the cost of the auxiliary facilities increased exponentially, so forget about 50 floors, even buildings exceeding 20 floors were extremely rare.
Even to me, who knew all the settings in the game, it was a mindless waste of money that made my jaw drop.
Ding…
The elevator slowly came to a stop and the doors opened. A view of a completely gray room without a single piece of furniture unfolded before us.
Around the time the bleakness enveloped my entire body as if I had stepped into a parking lot, the chair in front of the desk swiveled, revealing a pointy-eared woman wearing glasses.
“Yulia Petenburg…”
A cold complexion. Eyes looking down as if she didn’t even consider it worth talking to a worthless inferior race.
That elf in a neat office look was exuding a presence that made one’s body shrink just from making eye contact.
Jill appeared completely unintimidated on the surface, but looking closely, there were plenty of signs that she was scared.
For example, her little finger fidgeting and brushing against her skirt, her left heel slightly lifting and dropping, her shoulders flinching as she consciously tried to keep them straight…
Well, there was no end if I started listing them.
‘Wow. She’s worthy of being called a witch.’
Those who didn’t know would all think Yulia was a charismatic girl crush type.
In fact, Yulia’s speeches broadcasted on the radio were used as lecture materials in several universities, being called great speeches.
Did people know? The fact that the all-mighty Yulia was actually a gloomy loser who was extremely shy.
‘If I hadn’t met her by chance yesterday, I might have been intimidated too.’
She seemed like a completely different person from the woman I met on the bridge yesterday.
Yulia probably didn’t have a separate stylist for her personality. It seemed she even self-taught herself makeup and fashion to style herself.
As expected of a genius girl. Although that genius ability didn’t seem to work well in terms of social skills.
“What is this?”
“…”
Thud.
Yulia silently threw a stack of papers on the desk.
Angered by that rude attitude, Jill strode over and picked up the papers.
Perhaps the outcome was already decided from this point onward. No, the fact that Jill obediently came to Petenburg in the first place meant she had lost.
“A settlement agreement?”
Jill’s expression gradually distorted as she flipped through the papers.
Glancing at it, the clauses written in the agreement were as follows:
– Jill Diner acknowledges that she plagiarized the core principles of the elixir, the rights to which are owned by the Petenburg Foundation, in the process of developing healing magic.
– Jill Diner pays 90,000 gold to the Petenburg Foundation to purchase the commercial use rights (license) for the core principles of the elixir.
– Yulia Petenburg permanently keeps the contents of the agreement confidential. If this clause is violated, the Petenburg Foundation will pay Jill Diner 10 million gold.
In summary, it was “I know you stole my technology, so if you pay the proper price now, I’ll let it slide.”
It might sound a bit crude, but considering that Jill did actually steal it, it was a considerably lenient response.
Although it was a forced sale, the price of the technology wasn’t set absurdly high, but at a reasonable level.
She even promised to keep the contents of the agreement confidential forever, out of concern for the saintess’s reputation being tarnished.
As expected, she only acted like a jerk on the outside, but was actually a soft-hearted angel.
This was the kind of woman who should be the saintess.
On the other hand, our saintess…
“Wh-what kind of nonsense is this? I came here because the complaint was so ridiculous, and you’re spouting even more absurd things! Me misappropriating the technology of the elixir…”
Was angrily making baseless claims like this.
But Yulia didn’t even spare a glance at such a Jill and just sat there with her eyes closed. As if there was no point in even talking.
Yulia really didn’t need to talk any further. The game was already over.
The settlement agreement pushed in front of Jill was truly an ultimatum.
If she refused this or demanded revisions, the complaint would be submitted to the court as is.
It would require various verifications, so it would likely be a long battle, but Jill’s defeat was set in stone.
The money spent on this would be one thing, but the biggest blow would be the damage to the saintess’s reputation.
Jill had no choice but to sign the agreement here.
“Ugh… This is truly insulting! I’ll think about it some more for now!”
Thud.
Jill put the stack of papers down on the desk, turned around, and walked away, stomping her feet.
It seemed she had decided to continue her futile resistance.
I walked beside Jill, then casually glanced back.
“Hurry up and follow me, Yoo-jin.”
“Yes.”
For a very brief moment, Yulia gave me a quick smile. But that smile completely disappeared as soon as Jill turned around.
It seemed the stay in Petenburg would be quite enjoyable. Although it would be nothing short of a nightmare for Jill.
***
“Ah, um. Uh. What about the saintess…?”
“Don’t worry. She fell asleep completely drunk. I had to stop her from drinking herself to death, as if she was under a lot of stress.”
“Ah, aha. You had a, a tough time.”
“Hahaha.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Yulia’s awkward laughter.
It was the kind of laughter losers, who were overly conscious of how others perceived them, deliberately suppressed out of fear that their own laughter would sound unpleasant to hear.
In fact, the more they did that, the weirder it became.
“Ha-have some. This is a, a really expensive liquor.”
“Hm. 30-year Elisha? I don’t know much about whiskey.”
“Ah. Oh. You don’t know much about it. 30 years means the raw liquor was aged in oak barrels for 30 years. The reason 30-year Elisha is special is because it uses a mana compression method that other companies don’t use…”
I knew. I knew very well. I was the one who wrote those lines, so how could I not know?
Nevertheless, I listened to Yulia’s excited explanation and even chimed in from time to time.
The killing point was that she didn’t stutter when talking about something she liked.
“Aha, ah. I, I talked too much about myself. You must have been bored…”
“Not at all. It was so much fun. I like listening to things I don’t know much about.”
“Re-really? Then shall I tell you about another label made by the same company as Elisha?”
“Haha… That would be great…”
“That company makes something called Trium besides Elisha, and it’s not very well-known to the public, but…”
Oh my. This wasn’t a line I wrote.
While I let my guard down for a moment, a whiskey seminar had begun.
‘No matter how much I look at her, it doesn’t match her usual image.’
Although she stuttered, Yulia had a very talkative personality.
Unlike her reputation for being cold and scary, she had a warm heart too.
I was probably the only one in this world who could see Yulia laughing out loud and chattering away.
Even the game protagonist took quite a long time to see this side of Yulia, but thanks to meeting her by chance yesterday, I was able to break through to this point all at once.
“I, I really didn’t think I would actually meet you again. I was, was surprised to hear you were the saintess’s bodyguard knight.”
“I was so surprised too. I never imagined I would see that side of Yulia Petenburg, whom I respected.”
“Aaah! I’m s-sorry! For showing you such an unsightly appearance!”
“No. It’s so friendly and nice. I think Yulia’s current appearance is prettier and better.”
“Re-really…?”
Yulia’s eyes glistened with tears, seeming moved.
Of course, I meant it sincerely when I said I liked Yulia’s current self better. After all, a klutz like this was more charming than a flawless superhuman.
“Haa. This, this is the first time. Having such a ca-casual conversation with a human…”
“Is that so? I heard you’re over 300 years old. Haven’t you met many people in that time?”
“N-no… I, I ran away from elven society a long time ago because I didn’t like it. And then I self-taught magical engineering. Maybe because I’m not very smart… Even after studying for 300 years, there were still things left to study…”
Not very smart, my foot.
Yulia probably didn’t know. The fact that an immense number of theories had branched out from the papers she had anonymously submitted while self-studying.
The reason she kept having more to study even after 300 years was because she was directly expanding the horizons of magical engineering herself.
Because all those landmark papers were submitted anonymously, no one could claim the rights, and thanks to that, many people could enjoy the benefits of magical engineering’s development at a low price.
In other words, she was a genius girl on a level surpassing Jill.
“Wh-when I came to my senses, there was a city built around my lab. Everyone revered me as their lord… Neighboring powerful nations asked me to sell them potions and technology… Ah. B-by the way, all the potions and elixirs were developed by the pharmacists in this area! It, it has nothing to do with me! But why do they keep revering me, calling them Petenburg’s divine medicine…”
“It must be very burdensome for you.”
“It really is! I’m so scared I, I can’t meet people. What if they get, get disillusioned? I heard in some country, I, I was voted the number one person girls wanted to be like when they grew up. Maintaining this image is so hard and bu-burdensome, I feel like throwing up…”
“I’m so happy to see this side of Yulia. I don’t think anyone will be disillusioned. But if the image suddenly changes, many people will be surprised… Hmm… How about gradually changing your image?”
“Gradually?”
“Yes. Slowly changing the public’s perception. From a ruthless and untalkative witch to a friendly lord.”
“H-how do you do that?”
We talked through the night.
For Yulia, it was probably the first time she had a chance to talk so comfortably, so she must have lost track of time.
Of course, it wasn’t a boring time for me either. Because gloomy loser mode Yulia had a devilish charm that automatically made me feel good just by looking at her.
If Yulia and I had just one common hobby, we could probably have an exciting conversation all day long.
“The, the sun is rising.”
“I should get going now. It’s time for the saintess to wake up. I had fun. See you again.”
“A-again? Really?”
“Of course. Ah. Am I a bit difficult to deal with? Should I stop coming?”
“N-no, no no no. You can come. No, please come. I enjoy talking with you, Yoo-jin…”
We made plans to meet again.
With her hands clasped together demurely, gazing steadily like a puppy seeing off its owner going to work, I gave Yulia a smile and left.
That innocent smile of Yulia’s kept coming to mind even after the elevator doors closed.
“Why are you getting off there? Judging by your smile, something good must have happened.”
Ah, shit.
I was screwed.
“…”
“…”
Rattle, rattle.
The first-class train compartment, occasionally shaking, was filled with silence and extremely quiet.
Jill just stared out the window with heavily bloodshot eyes, not even sparing me a glance.
She seemed to have tried to hide it with makeup, which she rarely did, but the redness around her eyes was clearly visible.
‘Where did she get the hangover medicine from?’
I was unlucky.
It seemed Jill had taken hangover medicine before drinking, so she woke up completely sober after getting dead drunk for just an hour.
Jill, after confirming I wasn’t around, guessed where I would be and waited in front of the building.
She had stood still for hours, even overnight.
As a result, she succeeded in catching me red-handed.
That morning,
Jill immediately signed the settlement agreement, wrote a check for 90,000 gold, threw it on Yulia’s desk, and packed her bags.
The preparations were quickly finished, and we took the first morning train to where we were now.
Earlier, she had cried and yelled in the compartment until she was hoarse, but now she had gone quiet.
It wasn’t a good sign at all.
It meant Jill had entered the highest stage of anger, refusing to have a conversation.
That state would probably last for more than two days.
‘I’m so tired.’
I was angry too.
I had tried to conquer Yulia for once, but I ended up being dragged away like this after just one day.
But at least I had opened up to Yulia.
…It was a big blow to console myself with just that.
‘It can’t be helped.’
The conquest of Jill had been very stagnant recently.
If the conquest rate popped up now, it would probably be in the mid-70% range.
It had risen to that point in an instant, but it hadn’t budged from there for several months.
Forget about marriage, we hadn’t even kissed yet, so that said it all.
‘I’ll have to do something a bit mean.’
They say you feel the importance of existence the most from its absence.
A special prescription was indeed needed.
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