Chapter 311
Chapter 311
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 311
Chapter Title: Between Love and Love -0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Academy Team Competition had wrapped up quite successfully, all things considered.
There had been a minor glitch during the main event, but everyone graciously acknowledged it as a mistake and agreed to declare it a joint victory.
Now, the only thing left was the most important part: deciding on the ranking rewards. Handing out cash across the board lacked romance, so I wanted to prepare personalized gifts for each student.
For Goldie, the representative of the Gordius Team, something fitting like... the design blueprint for a feminine android exterior ought to do nicely. Modeled after Woo Chae-rin, enough to make it award-worthy.
His sense of aesthetics was iffy at best, so rather than leaving him to make it himself, providing blueprints like this might prove helpful for future encounters.
For his party members, I planned to gift them things they'd always wanted. Back when I unleashed the dream demons on the Academy, the lower-ranked students had already submitted lists of desired items.
So, what to do for Baekseol, the other winner?
It felt tricky to decide alone, so I called in an expert on Baekseol. Selvia, who looked like old comrades on the surface but had cooperated fully during the competition and gotten along just fine.
It had been about ten minutes since I sent the message, so she should be arriving any moment now...
Another ten minutes passed, and Selvia still hadn't shown. She was way later than expected. Had something happened on the way, or was she tied up with something urgent?
Creeeak.
Just as I decided to go look for her myself and opened the office door, there she was, waiting right in front of it. She immediately launched into WWE mode.
"Ugh... whoa... ahh..."
With the most awkward battle cry imaginable.
She slipped, stumbled, and came tumbling right into my arms. It looked like slow motion. Anyone without deep insight into acting techniques might have thought it was a genuine accident.
But to my eyes, the skill and intent were crystal clear. It was deliberate, pure theater.
This was a curiosity-type attack based on the Love Comedy Constitution. A combo laced with Full of Openings and Irresistible Force, playing up her clumsy character to naturally initiate skinship with the protagonist.
Depending on the situation, it could escalate to more aggressive appeals. Like tangling up on the fall and staging an accidental lip-lock.
She'd waited ten minutes outside the office just to pull off this cute little ploy? But the execution was crude, lacking finesse. The staging felt underdeveloped.
Approaching with temptation was fine, but challenging me in my field of expertise ignited my competitive spirit.
The Peerless Sovereign. I could counter powerful, straightforward assaults with gentle redirection.
A heroine's Accidental Trip could be effortlessly reversed with Quick Reflexes to Catch Her.
I stepped to disrupt her incoming leg, wrapped my arm around her waist, and spun her around in one smooth motion. It ended in a pose straight out of a mixed duet's grand finale.
And in the most velvety voice I could muster, I said,
"Are you alright, my lady?"
"Urgh...!!"
"A word of advice, Selvia. Setting up the stage and luring someone in creates dissonance. It's high-risk too. Players have a habit of wandering into areas beyond the GM's reach sometimes."
Waiting ten minutes outside the office door to stage a rom-com door-opening tumble? That alone exposed her inexperience.
What if I hadn't come out? Scheming the setup was good, but the pull-in tactic needed to be just as meticulously planned.
If it were me, I'd use tools or props.
Something reasonably heavy... like a stack of documents. Arrive at the door holding it and coax, "Professor, could you open the door? My hands are full." Then, as the door opens, trip right in.
Documents scattering to obscure vision and hinder response, then slip into that opening and cling tight.
Selvia had aimed for that sweet, heart-fluttering moment but got caught and counterattacked instead. Her face flushed crimson as she shrieked,
"Y-You knew it was a seduction, so instead of coaching, couldn't you just... play along?!"
"No can do. I've got my pride as the continent's top beauty. Letting such a sloppy seduction slide? Daisy would chew me out."
"Who's that guy...? Whatever. Why'd you call me?"
"Ah."
I scooped Selvia up effortlessly and plopped her on the sofa. Then sat across from her and got to the point: I had no idea what to give Baekseol as a victory prize.
Selvia fanned her heated face with her hand before blurting out,
"She probably just challenged it 'cause she wanted to be number one, so even without any real prize, putting her at the top of the rankings would satisfy her, right?"
"Hmm... that's too lackluster. She might be happy, but I'm not."
"Then how about glasses? She uses her fables by restricting vision, so lenses that open and close freely at will..."
"Oh."
Not a bad idea. From monitoring her fights, Baekseol had used her fingers to block vision and apply fables. So an auto-shutter monocle that snaps open and shut would be handy.
"But... that lacks style. Not a fan."
"Huh?"
"No, the way she blocks it precisely with her fingers right now? Super cool. Like forming a mudra. Taking that away would be a huge aesthetic loss."
"...Then just make a small statue or something? She's a narcissist; she'd love that."
I snapped my fingers. Perfect.
Set up a Hall of Fame at the Academy and immortalize her as the inaugural champion. I'd need to think about the outfit and pose, but now I had a solid direction.
Feeling relieved, I asked Selvia,
"Oh, Selvia. You free tomorrow? For about two days."
"...A date proposal?"
"Nah, business."
"Business it is."
Remember those days long ago, playing hide-and-seek with the elves? The incident Bennett and the Mad Crow stirred up in the elven forest, and its aftermath.
To reduce the threat of the elven pursuit squad, the Mad Crow flooded their memories with romantic feelings. Due to the elves' trait of linking minds into a single network via the World Tree, it spread like wildfire—
And suddenly, an entire elven clan harbored subtle feelings toward Bennett and me.
I returned their sacred relic and promised to patch the vulnerability in their emotional bonding. I delivered the relic. Now was the time to fulfill the latter promise.
Give and take. Time to reward the elves too.
"......"
Selvia's mood soured instantly. Memories of lingerie-clad elven rangers expressing affection toward me must have resurfaced.
She started fidgeting, glancing at me. Her fingers toyed with the hem of her dress shirt, hesitating.
I quietly stopped her.
"Don't strip."
"......"
"If you think lingerie is the best counter to lingerie... that's naively complacent. Whoever taught you is going soft. If you want, I can give you a masterclass—"
"I-I'm not trying to learn how to seduce the guy I like?!"
Then do better.
"Anyway, I'll go. I'll make time even if I don't have it... Are the other two coming too?"
"No, just you and me."
"...Why? No, I'm not expecting anything. I won't. Probably 'cause they're busy with something huge and complicated tied to your brother's fate or whatever."
"Nothing that critical on the docket lately... Picking you is simply 'cause I need you for this job."
Selvia's face formed a question mark. She couldn't guess why I'd choose her fresh fable-awakener over a transcendent archmage and a mature fable-wielding combat machine.
I sensed a flicker of inferiority about her abilities. Fables were an elite realm even in the Empire, but with such standout rivals, she couldn't fully rejoice.
For fights or trouble, I'd have called Yuna and Yuri too.
I knew better than anyone that Selvia was trying hard, but that didn't mean I couldn't pick a better option.
This job was different, though.
I cleared my throat and asked seriously,
"Hypothetically... just purely if... I decided to abandon my humanity for my own happiness, how would you react?"
"...Pardon?"
"More concretely: To excise 'that thing' from my mind, I need a rabbit's liver. So I kill Baekseol, extract her soul, and devour it."
"......"
Her expression screamed confusion at the question. Warning that she'd get genuinely mad if it was a joke, she answered,
"I'd stop you."
"Even if you love me?"
"Because I love you. Whether you've been consumed by it, your mind's damaged, or you've fallen for someone's manipulation... the moment you choose that, you'll regret it someday. How could I stand by?"
"Exactly the answer I wanted. That's... what sets you apart from Yuna and Yuri."
What would Yuna do? She'd charge ahead, kill the rabbit, rip out the liver. Even if I didn't want it. Maybe grab the turtle and horse too while at it.
Yuri would calmly say, "Understood," and act on my intent. As long as it was my decision, not external pressure—even exterminating the entire Empire's populace.
But Selvia's scales tipped differently. She'd resist most fiercely if I went astray. That's why I chose her.
"Of course, this isn't about me suddenly turning dark or anything. Got a side request from the elves. But it's... pretty tricky."
"Difficulty-wise?"
"It's a tightrope. Essentially no right or wrong answers, just nuanced complexity. Like relationship counseling."
Improving the vulnerability in their emotional bonding. An extension of that task.
I'd received a letter from an elven ranger. It detailed an intimate dilemma of one elf in their collective.
After our encounter, relations between the elves and Empire had improved markedly. The sin of damaging Second Prince Irid's royal body was resolved through amicable agreement with the involved party. Exchanges between elves and humans began.
Wild elves started frequenting the city of Elphiris near the elven forest.
And during these exchanges, one elven ranger fell in love with human male A.
No issue if it were another race. They'd just enjoy sweet romance, have kids, live happily ever after. But emotional bonding became the problem.
Proceeding with bonding while harboring romance would spread that love like a virus through the World Tree network. Just like the Mad Crow's scheme.
Then, every elven sibling would feel affection for human A. The ensuing incidents were all too predictable.
Skip the bonding, though, and that elf gradually gets ostracized from the wild elf community. Naturally so. Wild elves bond tightly as a species by intimately reading and sharing each other's minds.
Choosing human A means losing her entire elven family.
The letter's author was deeply torn between love and family, individual and collective.
"...Yeah, that's a complicated one."
"The elf left the judgment to me. So whatever I decide shapes the story's end. Hence... my dilemma."
Yuna and Yuri would follow my decision one way or another. But I needed someone to challenge and review it.
Enter Selvia, nursing her own heartache over love.
Plus,
"I think this might... give hints about our relationships too. I've dragged it out long enough, right?"
"......"
"Honestly, I haven't decided yet. But I promise—by this story's end, I'll give you an answer to your confession."
Dragging it out wasn't fair. Dodging so far was my failing. But with tangled feelings, I couldn't decide easily either.
For starters, Yuna and Yuri both said it was "fine."
Yuna's side was a desperate "As long as you stay by my side, make a harem, cheat, whatever—I can endure."
Yuri's was confidence bordering on arrogance: "No matter where you wander, I'll reel you in eventually." Her mental and physical strength were absurd, as always.
Betrayal or forgiveness, pity or love. Too many weights on the scales to balance easily. But it had to end someday. Chekhov's gun must fire.
Now it was my turn—and Selvia's—to decide. This extravagant dilemma over the overflowing love bestowed on me, and its answer.
Selvia nodded, eyes swirling with anxiety and anticipation.
"...Got it. Let's see what happens."
"We leave at dawn tomorrow. Pack light. We'll teleport."
"Come prepared. I won't back down!"
With that spirited declaration, she dashed off. Her swaying red hair receded into the distance, vanishing from sight.
I quietly packed my bags. Short trip.
