Chapter 76
Chapter 76
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Duty Without Pleasure (End)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lying spread-eagled on the bed shirtless wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling.
"Your chest muscles are quite dense. Hmm..."
It felt just like being dissected.
Of course, no scalpel was involved. It was just Otilie's small, cold fingers tracing over every inch of my body.
Otilie sat on my stomach, running her fingers along each of my ribs.
It was an embarrassing situation, but since Otilie showed no sign of shyness, I tried my best to act nonchalant as well.
Just think of it as a doctor examining a patient.
Yeah, this was medical procedure.
"But Miss Otilie, is this really necessary?"
"Very much so. It's a way to increase the doll's fidelity. Muscle positions, joint range of motion, skeletal density, and so on. All to accurately replicate Teacher's body."
"Hmm..."
If an expert says so, it must be true.
Still, the scene felt a bit too risqué.
Otilie handled my body as if it were parts waiting to be assembled—carefully, yet obsessively. Soon, she lifted my arm and pressed firmly into the muscles under my armpit.
I nearly screamed but managed to hold it in.
After being toyed with like that for dozens of minutes...
"Finally, let me check Teacher's mana circuits a bit."
"Mana circuits? Why those?"
"I've embedded mana circuits in the doll. But to maximize mana utilization efficiency, they need to match the original person's as closely as possible. The human body has the most efficient structure compared to artificially created ones."
"I see. That's intriguing."
"The butler said it's something like the principles of nature."
I nodded without suspicion. Otilie placed her palm on my solar plexus and gently infused her mana.
Whumm—
I felt a foreign sensation. The moment her mana flowed through the circuits near my heart, Otilie's brow furrowed deeply.
"Hm..."
"Is something wrong?"
"This... I'm not sure if it's a problem or not..."
Otilie tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"Teacher's body... doesn't seem entirely like Teacher's."
"Why do you say that?"
"Just... there are traces left by other people all over the circuits, more than Teacher's own energy. It feels almost deliberate..."
"That's..."
Probably from Elise's holy power or Isolde's mana sweeping through my body a few times.
No helping it. Since my body was utterly inept at storing mana or holy power, we'd had to carve paths like that.
"No need to worry about it. As long as it doesn't affect my condition, it's fine."
"If so... yes. No major issues, then..."
Otilie trailed off. She seemed more focused on something else than my physical state.
How much time passed like that?
Otilie turned her head toward the courtyard and let out a deep sigh.
"...She's here."
"A guest?"
Otilie frowned and got off me. I hurriedly grabbed my shirt from the floor, threw it on, and buttoned it haphazardly. Then I opened the chapel door.
"Miss Isolde? What brings you here at this hour?"
Isolde stood in the doorway.
Her gray eyes in the darkness turned toward me.
"..."
Isolde's gaze slowly shifted. My shirt with crooked buttons from hasty dressing. My bare lower half clad only in thin linen undergarments. And crucially, Otilie emerging from behind me, brushing back her disheveled hair.
The circumstantial evidence was overwhelmingly clear.
"...What were you two... doing? In the middle of the night...?"
Isolde's voice dropped coldly.
I'd never heard her speak in such a tone, not in the original story nor since possessing this world.
Her usually refined and composed voice now carried a chilling killing intent. I quickly realized this was a situation ripe for misunderstanding.
From Isolde's perspective, it must look like I'd dragged Otilie in for something nefarious. When in reality, it was the exact opposite.
"This is... something Miss Otilie asked me to do..."
"Miss Otilie...?"
"Not in that sense. Purely for research."
"Research?"
"Yes. I thought it might help with her doll-making..."
Isolde's brow narrowed further. But as I desperately explained, the corners of her mouth seemed to level out.
However...
"We're not done yet, Teacher. I haven't measured your pelvis yet."
"...Miss Otilie?"
Otilie flashed a provocative smile at Isolde.
"As the top student of the Magic Faculty, I can't overlook such reckless and lewd behavior. Miss Otilie, come back at once. Even if you're of age, improper relations with faculty are strictly forbidden within Erebos."
Despite Isolde's persuasion, Otilie scoffed.
"Improper? Says who? I was just burning with academic passion."
"Don't lie. That's not academic passion, it's..."
"And anyway, what gives you the right to boss me around?"
"...That's."
"Are you Teacher's guardian? Or... his lover?"
"L-Lover...?"
Isolde fell silent. As if that settled it, Otilie grabbed my arm and pulled.
"Teacher, let's finish up. You said you'd let me measure anywhere I wanted."
"Well... that's true, but..."
I glanced at Isolde, still standing in the doorway.
"Um... Miss Isolde? So... what was your business...?"
There must be a reason she'd come looking for me.
Moreover, her Magic Faculty robe wasn't even properly buttoned, exposing her cleavage blatantly. Her disheveled clothes showed how rushed she'd been.
"...Is it something urgent?"
"That's... uh, no..."
Isolde fidgeted, then smiled.
"I-I'll come back next time. Next time. We can talk then..."
"Miss Isolde?"
Instead of answering, Isolde forced a smile, backed away, and hurriedly left the chapel.
"..."
It seemed a misunderstanding had occurred.
A civilian house near Erebos.
An underground hideout had been established there.
It was the lair of the kingdom's secret society, the Shadow.
"...So."
In the dim room, a pale-faced man with ashen hair and ghostly white skin spoke.
"The plan's already next month? Time flies."
Shadow Wolf. The one who'd killed Count Kreuz's daughter during the Full Moon Festival and unleashed the Shades.
"Yeah. You got the Shades ready, Shadow Wolf?"
The response came from an entirely white-clad woman.
White Face. The one who'd infiltrated the Twin Towers recently, summoned Predators, and caused the Ashen Tower's collapse.
"Shades? Ready anytime. I've made plenty of seeds. Though, we'll need suitable hosts, of course."
The reason they'd gathered was simple.
To discuss the details of their large-scale raid on Erebos Royal Academy next month.
"Whatever it takes, our goal is to seize the academy and find that thing in the basement of the dean's office. Don't forget."
"No chance of forgetting. That's why we're going through all this hell."
Shadow Wolf shrugged.
Suddenly, as if it just occurred to him, he grinned slyly at White Face.
"So, White Face. What about the chimeras? Heard the production line's totally wrecked."
"Can't use chimeras in this raid. No one suitable to control them."
Chimeras were uncontrollable monsters.
To weaponize them required precise manipulation magic.
No matter White Face's mental control abilities, she couldn't handle every single chimera individually.
"White Face, you should've brought that Ihen Dorp girl."
A hulking man who'd been silently sitting in the corner spoke up. A rock-solid muscled brute, Yaksha.
"You went in all bold, only to lose your puppets. Wasted that Predator summoning spell."
Shadow Wolf joined in the mockery, and White Face's face darkened.
"Shut up. It was almost done. If that priest hadn't barged in..."
"Coming back half-dead from one lousy priest and making excuses? Disappointing."
"Shut up. You should've seen him. That priest... he used high-tier magic like it was nothing. And he seemed connected to the Saintess candidate."
"Saintess candidate? Connected how?"
"Yeah."
White Face recalled the Twin Towers incident.
She recalled it, but couldn't quite form the image.
The Saintess candidate Elise de Lua floating in the air. Her fluttering skirt hem. And between them, what she'd glimpsed...
"Aaaah!"
White Face clutched her head and hurled the glass from her bosom.
"You should've seen it! What kind of Saintess candidate acts like a... harlot...!"
Shadow Wolf and Yaksha clicked their tongues. That woman had clearly hit her head in the Twin Towers.
"Anyway, for the Erebos raid, we need to watch out for just two things."
White Face growled, jabbing at the map.
"First, the dean and high-ranking faculty. Old man, you pin them down with your Shadow Barrier."
"And the other?"
White Face's finger pointed to the rundown chapel on the western side of the academy map.
"The dark-skinned priest I mentioned. We have to be careful of him."
Deep fear and murderous intent filled White Face's eyes.
"That guy's no ordinary human. Using high-tier fire magic at that age means he's beyond Archmage level."
Isolde, who'd said she'd come back, visited the chapel exactly two days later.
In her hands were thick stacks of magic tomes.
Her business was straightforward.
"...So, Miss Isolde... you're going to teach me magic?"
"Exactly. With the mana link, you should now be able to sublimate your internal mana into spells. From now on, every day! I'll come every day and give you lessons!"
"...Hmm."
She wasn't even asking my opinion?
Well, not a bad deal anyway.
With Act 4 right around the corner, having Isolde teach me magic was more than welcome.
But for some reason...
Isolde's eyes looked fierce as she hurriedly opened a beginner's magic book.
Especially her emphasis on "every day"—it felt a bit pressuring.
"..."
No, I couldn't ignore someone's goodwill.
Isolde had done so much for me up to now.
I sat obediently, and Isolde turned to the first page.
"Here, this is the beginner fire spell, Candle. Want to try it?"
"...O."
A few minutes later.
A tiny flame flickered to life above my fingertip.
Just as big as a lighter's flame—a small, precious spark.
"How does it feel to become a mage?"
"Amazing."
I'd cast my first spell.
Finally, a novice mage.