Something Else Is Needed
...It seemed I needed something else now.
“Say ahh~”
What on earth was this situation?
“Oh, no need to be embarrassed~ Just say ahh, Darling. Okay?”
“What is she doing?”
“Apparently she's the Queen.”
Why was she in my room?
“You should call her Alice, right?”
“Not Alice—call me Queen, Darling.”
“.......”
“But if Darling wants... Alice wouldn't be so bad either.”
Hehe.
I stared at the Queen's beaming smile, utterly at a loss.
When I'd turned down her offer and returned to my companions, I'd assumed she would react in one of two ways.
The first was persuasion.
Considering she was willing to offer a whopping 30,000 gold—nearly six hundred million won in real currency—the Blessing must have been incredibly important to her.
She'd probably offer more money, or some special treasure of Kiki Island.
“Hold my hand, Darling. Hurry.”
The second was theft.
Since the Blessing could be taken from someone's corpse, I'd wondered whether she might just kill me with the authority of her position and the power of Kiki Island behind her.
Truthfully, I'd considered the second option more likely than the first.
Someone who refused hundreds of millions was a hassle to persuade. Killing me outright would be far easier.
But.
“Come on~”
The Queen chose a completely different method.
And an absolutely ridiculous one at that.
“...Did you seriously think I'd die for something like this?”
“I just came because I was thinking of you, Darling? What if you left this island without ever tasting the banana ice cream it's famous for... Isn't that a shame?”
Huh?
The Queen edged closer to me with a mischievous grin.
I'd allowed her to stand beside me, but there was a line she wasn't crossing.
“Chee...”
Because I was holding it.
With a disappointed pout, the Queen rapped her knuckles against the transparent wall of magic, then gently tapped the spoon holding the ice cream.
“Then just try one bite of this, Darling. Then I'll really go.”
“...Do you promise?”
“Yes! Hurry, hurry.”
Reluctantly, I opened the wall.
The spoon shot forward eagerly, right up to my lips.
It didn't quite shove its way in—just hovered there, crimson eyes gazing up at me.
I intercepted the spoon and popped it into my mouth.
“Eh.”
“It's good. Sweet.”
Well, it was a local specialty for a reason. It really was delicious.
You have eaten Kiki Island's specialty, Banana Ice Cream.
Strength and Agility permanently increase by 1.
Strength and Agility temporarily increase by 8 and 9.
To think even something like this counted toward my stats.
“Gotcha. Heehee.”
“......”
“Anyway, as promised!”
As the Queen rose to her feet, the badge pinned to her chest gleamed with golden light.
A shimmering wave of gold flowed toward my card.
“You really didn't have to do that.”
“Just take it, Darling. I'm giving it because I want to.”
Well, think of it as compensation for all the trouble, I suppose?
“See you again~”
With a casual wave, the Queen turned, flashed a knowing smile at the trio who'd been watching the whole scene, and swept out of the room.
“Wow... she's gorgeous.”
“Right? Boss is pretty too, but that Queen is stunning.”
“L-Lily's prettier, though...”
“...What are you all doing?”
White Autumn and Jjoa—and Apple Flavor, who'd joined us late—were watching while munching on popcorn that had appeared from who knows where.
White Autumn, who had even donned a pair of 3D glasses, lowered them sheepishly with a hearty laugh.
“That was the person you were talking with earlier, right, Boss? Uh... is she, like, the real power around here?”
“Something like that.”
“Whoa... so that gorgeous lady was hitting on you?”
Hitting on me.
Well, she was, technically. But at least her intentions weren't exactly subtle.
She plans to take my luck one way or another—preferably by having me 'fall for her.'
Honestly, my luck made little difference whether I had it or not, and I wouldn't have minded just handing it over.
Luck wasn't some absolute, game-breaking ability in the end.
But dying? That was out of the question.
Waiting two months for a respawn was pushing it too far.
“Seems she wants something I can't give her. Don't worry about it—everyone go enjoy yourselves.”
“...There's definitely something.”
“Even if there is, pretend there isn't.”
I'd said it again and again, but I hadn't come here to clear a dungeon.
I'd come purely on vacation, so my plan was to relax, stay out of trouble, and slip away quietly.
“By the way, where did Battery and Hyuji go?”
“Billiards. After that, who knows.”
Some things really did just click between guys, huh.
Jjoa, who'd also joined late, had grown quite close with White Autumn—so naturally, Hyuji had apparently bonded with Battery, being fellow men.
Birds of a feather, I supposed. But there was nothing wrong with making friends.
Good for them, honestly.
I nodded along to Apple Flavor's answer.
“And where did you go, Apple Flavor?”
“The casino, also...”
“Huh?”
“Wait, why didn't we run into you? We walked basically the whole place.”
Jjoa and White Autumn tilted their heads in unison.
Under their stares, Apple Flavor fidgeted with his fingers and shrank back, answering in a voice that seemed to retreat into itself.
“I, uh... I won more than I expected and headed to the back sections early, but those were kind of... tough. My money just stayed the same no matter how long I played.”
Ahem!
“So I just came back and, uh... everyone was here already...”
“Ohh? That explains it.”
“If you'd stayed where you were, we would've crossed paths.”
“Haha...”
“Where are you off to, Boss?”
White Autumn asked as I made to leave the room.
“If I stay here, she'll just keep coming back. I need to go have a few words with her.”
And there was something I'd been meaning to ask, anyway.
So it really didn't work.
Carrying the single bite of ice cream she'd barely managed to feed her, the Queen walked down the guest hallway, her elaborate preparations all for nothing.
She had felt a flicker of anger when her first offer was refused.
Truth be told, death was hardly a catastrophe for the immortal outsiders.
Death was an inconvenience—lose something precious, absorb a certain amount of loss, and then come back to life.
Most of the outsiders the Queen had observed over the years attached little meaning to dying.
But Lily was different.
'My own death would be a greater loss than anything else.'
Lily recoiled from death, fiercely.
No fortune, no priceless treasure moved her.
But was she indifferent to wealth? No, that wasn't it either.
She accepted what was offered, yet drew some unshakable line somewhere. Something like that.
Pouring in any amount of money would change nothing.
'...She's a difficult one.'
She'd even considered force as a last resort, but...
'...This is real?'
'It is, Your Majesty.'
What the investigation into Jack had uncovered was nothing short of shocking.
An outsider with transcendent power—the kind that could bring down a colossal dragon capable of annihilating an entire continent.
Outside this island, even Crere couldn't stand against her. The Queen swallowed dryly.
'I can't win.'
She couldn't beat her, and persuasion didn't work.
Even her Blessing had no effect.
Every card the Queen held had been blocked. Which left exactly one option.
“Honestly, a woman like me shouldn't have to kneel for anyone...”
If Charm didn't work, then she would simply seduce her in person.
Long before she'd ever gained the Blessing of Charm, Alice Leah had been beautiful enough—and popular and charming enough to be the most beloved figure on all of Kiki Island.
In that respect, the Queen had confidence.
No matter how stone-faced the woman acted, warmth would surely melt her.
“Hnnngh...”
She'd believed it so firmly, and yet...
“Why on earth doesn't it work?”
Not even a little.
It might have been bearable if Lily had coldly pushed her away in visible discomfort—instead, she'd looked at her with something close to pity, as if humoring her.
For a Queen bearing the Blessing of Charm, it was a scratch on her very pride.
“Haah...”
And yet, this feeling wasn't anger, and her pride wasn't wounded.
'It's good. Sweet.'
A beauty so distant one couldn't tell whether Charm was even in use.
And beneath it, consideration that spilled out so naturally in her actions and her voice. The Queen felt something unfamiliar stir.
She had come to seduce—and somehow, it was she who'd been seduced.
Was her luck even attached to her charm?
“That's it. I'll go back and try again—!”
“Excuse me.”
“Darling?”
Lily appeared the instant the words left her mouth.
Lily took a single step toward the Queen.
In the dim lobby washed in faint light, those blue eyes gleamed like jewels.
Eyes that sparkled as if they might pull you in whole.
The Queen instinctively stumbled backward.
'W-why am I doing this?'
She was just an ordinary Blessing-bearer.
Lily had been the one hesitating to approach, yet she'd come first—if anything, this was her chance.
Use Charm right now, and...
“I wasn't going to say anything more, but.”
“Uh, uh?”
“This approach isn't going to work on you.”
Whoosh!
In an instant, her arm was seized, and the Queen's gaze shot upward.
'Wha—?!'
Lily's eyes, impossibly close in the blink of an eye.
With Lily's face now literally inches from her own, the Queen's cheeks flushed as red as her crimson eyes.
“D-Darling?!”
“So? Think this'll work on you?”
“...Mmhm.”
It would absolutely work.
“...Just not in the way you're thinking.”
“Darling. Can I say I love you?”
“No.”
“I love you.”
“I've heard that a lot, actually.”
“...From whom?”
Don't tell me she has a lover?
Is that why she won't accept anything?
For a moment, the thought felt so obvious that defeat washed over her—but Lily, as if reading her mind, let out a sigh.
“From strangers. People I've never met, like you, Alice.”
“Ah... huh?”
“Let me say it again. I can't die for you. And I can't come back here in two months either.”
Alice was, to me, the manager of a resort. Nothing more, nothing less.
Not a special relationship, but not an enemy either.
Which was exactly why—much as it pained me to say it to Alice—this was where it had to end.
Alice stared blankly, then glanced down at her arm.
“Oh.”
She'd been holding it this whole time.
The moment I released it, Alice's arm slid gently back down.
Why was she making that face?
“You won't come back again, right?”
“......It seems I need something else now.”
“...Sorry?”