The Second Partner
The correct answer wouldn’t be the correct answer for nothing… but wasn’t this taking things a little too far?
“Hah.”
I twisted my expression and finally forced the words out.
“How foolish.”
The moment I spoke, Chronos’s brows shot up.
Judging by his reaction, I might have already gone wrong somehow—but even so.
I had no choice but to keep going.
“Why do you think I bothered chasing after a shabby pile of trash like the Death God Cult?”
Chronos’s face contorted even further.
Behind me, the expressions of the Houndry lot watching the exchange twisted into pure shock as well.
But I wasn’t finished.
“I think I have a pretty good idea of the caliber of that Death God you lot revere, too.”
And finally, the insult aimed straight at the Necromancer himself.
That was the correct answer.
Though Chronos’s face certainly didn’t look like it belonged to someone who’d just heard one.
He seemed to turn something over in his mind, then slowly smoothed the furrow from between his brows.
“I see.”
Neither angry nor satisfied, he continued in that same ambiguous tone.
“This one understands well that Sir Karma bows his head to no one—not even to this one’s own master. I hope you will overlook the discourtesy.”
So going in hard had been the right call after all. Chronos took a step back.
Yet the wary light in his eyes still refused to fade.
“Then whom exactly were you pursuing when you sent your subordinates? You have yet to answer the question.”
Here, I had no choice but to confirm the correct answer once more.
Leaning on it too heavily wasn’t ideal… but since I’d already decided to borrow the power of the dating-sim system, I intended to see it through to the end.
“Keuk keuk… don’t get the wrong idea. My blade wasn’t thirsting for the reeking blood of small fry like you. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
No.
Everything else was fine, but why had my speech been like this for a while now? Did I actually talk that way normally?
And what the hell was with the “keuk keuk”?
“Ugh….”
Just thinking about having to spit out that line made me groan.
Not “keuk keuk.” It was more of an “ugh.”
“Keu….”
In the end I forced the words out with difficulty.
By the time I finished delivering the entire correct line while clutching my chest—
“The opposite….”
Chronos’s face went blank with surprise.
Had it actually worked this time?
“Mmm. I see. Yes… Karma. Sir Karma, is it. Only now does it come back to me.”
He brought a gloved hand slowly to his chin, sinking into thought.
“You are the one who accepted the Hasgard assassination request, are you not.”
Why was the conversation flowing in that direction?
No.
Don’t remember that.
“This one is the successor.”
Even the Houndry side started chiming in to help.
At that, Chronos gave a faint little smile.
Somehow that felt ominous.
“Ah. I nearly made a truly grave mistake. Sir Karma, I apologize.”
He stretched the corners of his mouth wider still and leaned his face closer to the flames.
“It seems this one was thinking of the matter entirely wrong. Sir Karma intended to take revenge upon the Hasgard who drove his predecessor to death, did he not.”
No, I didn’t.
“To fear neither royalty nor the Death God itself for the sake of vengeance… Sir Karma’s resolve is something this one could stand to learn from.”
Chronos had started thinking in a completely bizarre direction.
That Karma had tried to kill Daywin.
In other words—
He was under the impression that I had tried to kill myself.
And on top of that, he was painting a picture of me ruthlessly driving my subordinates into deadly danger, chasing that goal with single-minded obsession.
“This cruelty… what magnificent material.”
Material?
“A truly memorable encounter. Henceforth I shall watch over you with respect, Sir Karma. We shall meet again soon. At that time, I shall bring a small gift.”
With those words Chronos simply turned his back and walked off on his own.
“You lot—there is nothing more to discuss, so as for this… how should it be handled?”
He asked the Houndry members how to deactivate the magical tool, maintaining that courteous manner to the very end.
His figure was no longer visible in the flames, but his voice continued to carry.
Sound only.
“Incidentally, you all serve a most excellent master.”
Chronos spoke to the Houndry members in a voice that almost sounded pleased.
It was quite different from the tone he’d used while probing me.
And then—
“You and Sir Karma may prove of great help to our side as well. I do hope we can remain on good terms going forward. We are short one head on our end as it is, you see.”
Apparently he…
considered me a colleague….
Right….
Of course.
I’d just been using the perks and the scouter for combat and psychological warfare, that was all.
Originally, this was what they were for.
Originally…
every ability I’d received was meant to raise affection points….
My villain route still wasn’t over.
No.
It had ended, but it felt like the exact same quest had just popped up on my alt character.
I’d accidentally poked Chronos’s affection gauge.
After deactivating the ring’s effect, I returned to Amelia.
For some reason the pile of luggage she was holding had grown even larger.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one people liked.
“Hmph. Where exactly did you wander off to? Leaving me abandoned like this….”
Knowing full well what kind of endings occurred when you left heroines abandoned, I flinched hard at that particular word and immediately took the luggage back from her.
“My apologies. Something urgent came up.”
“Let us return at once. The crowds are beginning to gather.”
True to her words, Amelia was turning into a spectacle—like a tiger at the zoo.
“Your Highness.”
I spoke up as we walked back toward the palace together.
“What is it?”
“Something just occurred to me. How is the engagement progressing?”
“The en—!”
Amelia jolted as if struck by lightning.
“The… engagement, you mean.”
“Yes. Is it being sorted out?”
“Not yet. As it happens, it has become rather more bothersome of late.”
“Bothersome?”
“They keep sending gifts.”
“Gifts, is it. How amusing.”
“Isn’t it just. After trying to take my life, now that things seem to be going well for me they come crawling back.”
“Your Highness, it is time to settle this. We cannot leave it as it is.”
“Th-that is true enough, but….”
“If you find it difficult to take the lead yourself, I will handle the cleanup.”
“Cleanup…?”
“I mean I will deal with them.”
“Deal with them?”
Amelia stopped dead in her tracks.
“You mean you would kill them?”
“If necessary, yes.”
“Why would you… that is not like you….”
“I could ask Your Highness the same. These are the people who targeted your life, of all people. Is it not only right that they be repaid in kind?”
“Th-that is so.”
“If we leave them be, a few gifts will be all it takes for them to rise as royalty.”
“You speak as though I have already become king.”
“Did I not say I would make it so? It will happen.”
“H-hm. What tremendous confidence.”
“They tried to assassinate you while you were at the Academy to nullify the engagement, and now that you are winning popular support they act as if nothing ever happened… I cannot accept that. Why have you not settled this until now?”
Even Lucia—who found everything in the world too much of a bother—had offered to step up for her, after all.
“Well… if the fiancé’s seat becomes vacant… I… I would have to… with you….”
“Pardon? I didn’t quite catch that. Could you say it again?”
“N-no, never mind. Then… will you truly do so?”
“Of course that is my intention. I will look into it.”
“Hasgard. If, by some chance….”
“Yes.”
Amelia fiddled with the tip of her hair between her fingers.
“Truly just in the hypothetical… if you really were to… secretly kill my fiancé… that vacant seat….”
“Yes. I’m listening.”
“Ah… it is nothing. It has not even happened yet. I shall speak of it when the time comes. I am… not yet prepared, mentally….”
Amelia let out a long breath she seemed to have been holding.
“Haa… I had not wanted it to arrive quite this soon….”
“What is arriving soon?”
“N-never mind that. And you said you would look into it. In that case, we must accept the invitation from the Southern Grand Duke all the more.”
The Southern Grand Duke.
Oskar.
I had heard more than enough about the Northern Grand Duke, but this was the first I was hearing of a Southern one.
“My… fiancé borders Grand Duke Oskar’s territory, so going there will make things considerably easier.”
Come to think of it, that fiancé had been the son of a ducal house as well, hadn’t he?
“Two ducal houses sharing a border… I can already imagine what their relationship must be like.”
“Even if they are both ducal houses, Grand Duke Oskar is a proper feudal lord.”
“What sort of man is Grand Duke Oskar?”
“The master of the South, a shrewd operator who monopolizes the mines there, and a young man of ambition.”
Amelia added with a light laugh,
“Simply put, an absurdly wealthy man.”
And so—
I accepted the invitation of the young-and-rich Grand Duke.
The Southern Grand Duke.
And mines.
If Grand Duke Oskar possessed mines, he would also possess the casting facilities and smelting techniques for working minerals.
I toyed with the pouch hanging securely at my waist—Auntie, the Subspace Pouch.
There might be a place to melt down the gold bars I had… acquired from the Magic Tower.
Perfect timing.
I had a feeling I could resolve both the gold bars and Amelia’s fiancé in one stroke.
First I stopped by the Houndry hideout and received the four who had completed their mission.
“W-we’re sorry!”
The moment they saw me they bowed so deeply their heads nearly touched the floor.
“We connected with that bastard on our own and exposed Lord Karma. We are truly, truly sorry.”
Right.
Thanks to that, Chronos had left perfectly satisfied with Karma’s existence.
Gaining a reason to face one of the Five Lanterns of the Death God Cult again was not a bad harvest—but the entire process from start to finish had been completely off-script.
Still, because of it—
“Good that you know.”
I plucked a few gold bars from the safe and set them aside.
I’d been reluctant to hand over the full amount anyway, so this worked out nicely.
Their minor mistake had just saved me some money.
And considering the opponent had been Chronos, it was a genuine blessing that things had ended with only this much damage.
“Your wrap-up was sloppy, so I trust you have no complaints about me taking this much off the top.”
“Yes, of course! Th-thank you!”
They had clearly come expecting a far harsher punishment; instead they shouted their gratitude at full volume.
Well, if they hadn’t been caught by Chronos they would have been heading back happily debating what to spend the money on.
After Chronos, though, they had probably been terrified of whatever punishment awaited them.
“Split it among yourselves.”
At those words their faces lit up in an instant.
They began carefully gathering the gold bars, glancing at me for permission.
The golden light reflected off their faces, making them look even brighter.
Once I confirmed they had divided the remainder into precise quarters—
“Lord Karma! If you ever have another job for us, please work us as hard as you like!”
Having tasted the flavor of money, they chorused in unison.
I had originally planned to use them to hunt down Chronos, the specter of the Death God Cult… but since Chronos had come looking for me of his own accord, I had no immediate need.
“I’ll let you know when something comes up.”
“Yes, thank you!”
They bowed their heads as deeply as when they had first apologized.
“Ah, come to think of it, there is one thing I need done.”
“Yes! Just give the order!”
“Find Lucia’s maid and tell her to come up to my room.”
“Ah… r-right. Understood.”
The one who realized this was just a simple errand rather than a chance to earn money looked briefly disappointed.
“So Lucia has a maid now. Calling her to your room separately… she must have caught your eye quite a bit.”
What kind of nonsense was that?
What exactly did these bastards think I was?
A short while later—
“What is it? I already told you your subordinates scare me. Why call me to your room….”
Apparently the idiots had added some unnecessary commentary; Veronica opened the door with a tense face.
“And I’m only working here because of Lucia. You’re not the one who hired me….”
“Just sit down?”
“Fine. Fine, I get it. I just have to sit… right?”
The Southern Grand Duke.
Mines, minerals—there was one more thing those words brought to mind.
Jewels.