Chapter 101: Queen Maker
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 101: Queen Maker
Not a single ray of light entered my vision.
A dark space.
My body was numb, and I felt only a sense of weightless floating.
Still, I didn't panic.
It was a familiar situation.
[Ah. Master. Can you hear me?]
An elegant voice.
But the owner of that voice was anything but.
[Hey. Didn't I tell you not to enter my mindscape until I was done with my work? What if you get caught?]
[That's why I didn't contact you for a whole year. It's our first conversation in a year. Would it kill you to be a little welcoming?]
[Ah, right. Good to see you. Happy now?]
[Fucking bastard.]
[What?]
[Nothing. More importantly, do you have any idea how surprised I was? A perfectly healthy person suddenly collapses and doesn't move, then says what he wants to say and shuts down his mindscape.]
[You think I wanted that to happen? It just... happened.]
[Then why were you playing an erotic game? You should've just stuck to jacking off.]
[...I fucking told you, didn't I? I didn't buy it for myself, it was a gift for that bastard who wouldn't pay me back—]
[Oh, right. Your friend paid you back.]
[What? When?]
[A month after you collapsed. He sent 3.1 million won, interest included.]
[...]
That bastard.
If he was going to pay, he should have just paid up sooner. Why did he have to hold out and put me in this mess?
I was a little annoyed, but since he paid with interest, I'll let it slide...
[I used it to build a new computer. That's okay, right?]
This fucking bitch.
[Hey! The old computer was perfectly fine! Why would you waste money on a new one?!]
[But Elden Ring came out! FromSoftware released a new game! I had to buy it. I just had to!]
[You could've just used the old computer! It ran Dark Souls 3 just fine!]
[Oh, come on, Master! Who plays Dark Souls 3 anymore? You haven't upgraded the graphics card in years. We're in the age of the 3080ti, and you're still using a 1060! How am I supposed to run Elden Ring on this piece of junk!?]
[You little shit...]
A freeloader who doesn't even earn her own money has no idea of its value...!
I suppressed the anger welling up inside me.
[Fine... What's done is done. Go ahead, play it. But make sure you do the work I gave you while you're at it. Ah, let me ask while we're on the topic. How much have you finished?]
[Huh? Ah... well... you see...]
[...Don't tell me you haven't done anything.]
[N-No! Of course I have. I'm working hard on it! B-But more importantly, how are you doing these days, Master? Is it livable over there?]
It felt like she was changing the subject in a hurry.
Her intentions were obvious, but I decided to let it go. I had no way of checking on her progress besides asking.
[It's much better than the last place I was dragged to. I'm just traveling around with some companions.]
[By companions, you don't mean a bunch of beefy dudes, do you? Oh, my poor Master. Not even a single girlfriend to your name...]
[I have one.]
[What?]
[I said I have a girlfriend.]
[What??]
[And there are no dudes. They're all women.]
[What???]
Leah seemed extremely flustered and was silent for a while.
After a long pause, she spoke again.
[A real girlfriend? Not just a sex partner?]
[Hey.]
[I mean, how can I not be surprised? The man who swore he'd die before getting into a relationship—sex was fine, but never romance—suddenly has a girlfriend!]
[People can change. It's not that surprising.]
[Still...]
Leah trailed off before letting out a sigh.
[Okay, I get it for now. It's about time for your consciousness to return, so let's end our conversation here. And Master.]
Leah's voice turned serious.
[I'm saying this just in case, but even if your dick starts ruling your brain, you have to hold it in. If you don't, you might really regret it later. Got it?]
[What? Hey, what's that supposed to...]
Just as I was about to ask what she meant by that nonsense, the darkness cracked and light streamed in.
My consciousness was returning, and I was forcibly ejected from the mindscape.
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
"Where am I..."
"Hero, you're awake!"
I turned my head to see Ophelia, her face bright with relief.
.
.
.
.
.
Leah returned to reality, having left the mindscape.
She stood with her arms crossed, deep in thought. It was because of her master's attitude in the mindscape.
It's true that people can change...
Leah recalled the image of the man who had wept for three straight days, holding the dead woman in his arms.
But my master isn't that kind of person.
Even if his heart had truly changed, he wasn't the type to speak of it so casually.
This meant something had to be influencing his personality.
...Did a small crack form in his mental barrier when his soul was separated from his original body?
And someone had gotten lucky and slipped through that crack.
There was no other explanation.
His mind was originally so fortified that not even Leah could find a chink in its armor.
Leah frowned.
She didn't know who was behind it.
It could be the one who had stolen his soul, or perhaps another transcendent being.
But it didn't matter which one it was.
Whoever it was, they would pay dearly for daring to touch her master.
Her pure white eyes glowed brightly. With every word she muttered, runic characters materialized in the air, rotating around her.
A notification popped up that Elden Ring had finished installing, but she didn't even glance at it.
*
Thanks to them cutting open his stomach and pouring a potion inside, Cloud's injuries had been more or less treated.
However, he wasn't fully healed and needed to rest.
Normally, they would have taken him to a church, but the churches were already overflowing with the injured.
They were hesitant to leave Cloud in such a place. As they deliberated, Eri and Neria finally arrived.
After hearing the situation, Eri suggested they move him to the inn where she had rented all the rooms, and the others agreed.
Two hours had passed since they moved Cloud to a room on the second floor, leaving Ophelia to nurse him while the other women came down to the first floor.
Eri, Neria, Katarina, and Leslie.
An awkward silence hung over the table where the four women sat facing each other.
They had worked together to bring Cloud here, but now that the task was done, they realized they were all strangers.
Amidst the continuing awkward silence, the most nervous one was Katarina.
She's pretty! They're both so pretty!
Since Cloud had said he hadn't even held their hands, she had honestly expected them to be plain.
But from the Saint Candidate she'd seen earlier to the two women before her now, Cloud's companions were far more beautiful than she had imagined.
This troubled her.
Did he really not even hold their hands? He pounced on me after just one month.
He hadn't laid a single finger on these beauties he'd spent so much more time with?
No matter how she thought about it, it sounded like total bullshit.
N-No. He wouldn't tell a lie that could be exposed so easily. Maybe it's true.
Just as she was about to fall into despair, a sliver of hope pulled her back.
She decided to find out whether Cloud's words were true or not.
"Um... hello? You two must be Cloud's companions, Neria and Eri?"
Eri tilted her head.
"You know us?"
"Yes. Cloud mentioned you often. He said that among the companions waiting for him were a brilliant wizard and a knight."
Neria and Eri's eyes widened.
They were surprised that Cloud had been praising them behind their backs.
"D-Did he really say that? A brilliant wizard?"
"D-Did he talk about me, too?"
"...Yes."
Neria and Eri's faces turned red.
A mixture of joy and embarrassment was plain on their faces.
Calm down, Katarina. It's not certain yet. It's not certain.
Katarina pinched her thigh, struggling to maintain her smile.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Eri and Neria couldn't wipe the smiles from their faces.
A moment later, Eri came to her senses and cleared her throat.
"Ahem, just as you said, I'm Eri, and this is Neria. Since Cloud already told you about us, there's no need for further introductions. We're done, so now it's your turn. Who are you, and how do you know Cloud?"
As if she had been waiting for this very moment, Katarina quickly spoke up.
"My name is Katarina. I was a dancer in the Alitia Kingdom. I met Cloud by chance, and our connection eventually blossomed into a romantic relationship."
"So you're from the Alitia Kingdom. And you and Cloud are lovers... huh?"
The smiles on Eri and Neria's faces froze awkwardly.
Katarina swallowed hard.
This was the crucial part.
Their reactions would tell her everything!
"Y-You and Cloud are lovers... What do you mean..."
Neria's face turned pale, and she even started to stutter.
"...I don't like tasteless jokes."
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Eri's forehead as her expression hardened.
Seeing their reactions, Katarina realized something.
Cloud's words had been the truth.
It made sense. If they were his lovers, they wouldn't be this shocked; they would have grabbed her by the collar!
Katarina's expression visibly relaxed.
"It's not a joke. I really am dating Cloud."
No, it went beyond relaxing; she started grinning like an idiot.
If she had properly seen the expressions on the two women's faces, she never would have grinned, but she'd lost all sense of the mood along with her nervousness.
As Eri and Neria's expressions grew increasingly grim, Leslie spoke up.
"I am Leslie, Grand Duke of the Polizzia Duchy. I am to be Lord Cloud's wife one day. Please do not worry; I will not use my status to oppress you during our travels."
"Who decided you're going to be his wife? I won't allow it!"
"You will. Or rather, you don't have to. Of course, in that case, an unfortunate 'accident' might occur."
"D-Do you think threatening me will work!? The more you do that, the closer I'll stick to Cloud's side!"
"Are you sure about that? They say men get tired of women surprisingly quickly."
"You, you...!"
"That's enough!"
Eri shouted, cutting into Katarina and Leslie's argument.
The two women's gazes turned to her.
"Girlfriend, wife—cut it out with the childish jokes! They're not funny! Cloud isn't even interested in that sort of thing in the first place!"
Neria nodded her head frantically.
"Uh... actually, he's very interested...? So much that it's a problem..."
Katarina fidgeted with her fingers, her face turning beet red.
Snap.
The thread of Eri's reason broke.
"You're really asking for it!"
She shot up from her seat, gripping her staff. The gem on it was just about to glow red.
A cold blade touched the nape of her neck.
"Move and you die."
Shedia warned in an icy voice.
She shifted her eyes to the side.
"You too."
Neria froze, her hand hovering over the hilt of her sword.
The once-boisterous inn fell silent.
Not just Eri and Neria, but Katarina and Leslie also didn't dare to move.
There was no trace of the dazed, ditzy girl who would giggle at pretty things.
She was a finely honed sword, and her sharpness made even Katarina and Leslie tense up.
Then, Shedia suddenly turned to them and smiled brightly.
As if asking, Did I do a good job?
Katarina and Leslie were at a loss for words.
Creeak.
The sound of a door opening came from upstairs, and a moment later, Cloud appeared.
He looked down at the situation on the first floor and frowned.
What the hell is going on now?
He wanted to ask, but putting out the immediate fire came first.
"Shedia, lower your sword."
"She threatened my sisters first."
"I said, lower it. If you don't, I'm confiscating one of your moonstones."
"..."
Shedia pouted and lowered the sword she had pointed at Eri's neck.