Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Take the Bomb!
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Take the bomb!
What should the next class be?
I've already used the Numerous Gates and the Tentacle Labyrinth, so next I wanted to throw in some teamwork gimmick to build camaraderie. You know, the kind where they have to lift a log together.
Like redirecting three incoming magic trajectories with mystical mirrors and focusing them into one spot.
Of course, back in my previous life, I hated group projects too... I could list dozens of the problems they cause. But this is a ruthless medieval fantasy world.
If you're out on an adventure and one party member pulls a runner, your life hangs by a thread. So the surface reason is that students need to experience carrying human-luggage once during their school days, ride the bus a bit, so they can handle it later.
But the real motive was a nefarious plan to whip a spring breeze of youth through the academy.
When they rub shoulders and bump into each other, love is bound to bloom. I'll spark romances among the students. And while I'm at it, I'll review what makes an effective boy-meets-girl strategy.
All to fix that pitiful young man Irid, who's fallen for a virtual character.
"So I was thinking of adding a three-legged race gimmick or something... Why the long face?"
"Uh, um, y-yeah? It's just..."
The Violet Magic Tower Master, frontrunner for this year's Trouble Magnet Award, stuttered, her face saying she had too much to say but didn't know where to start.
Is she too shy to pull off a bold "Hold me like you did back at the tower"?
Or maybe she wants to learn TRPG mastering from the ground up but can't bring herself to ask after past failures.
Or perhaps she just needs the bathroom.
I waited patiently, like a mother watching her oversleeping daughter. She'd sort her thoughts and speak eventually. All she needed was time.
"It's, like..."
10 minutes passed.
"It's... what I mean is..."
30 minutes passed.
"Uh... no, it's nothing."
One hour in. Her sudden backpedal hit me like a lethal dose of frustration. I couldn't take it anymore—I rolled my eyes and lunged.
Whirrr.
"Eeeek—!!"
I don't forget things I've seen once. Thanks to my stellar brainpower. So the memory of Pingbalrez Kraken wrapping around Yuna was still vivid.
Reproducing it from memory was easy. I couldn't match Pingbalrez's flexibility, but I successfully bound the Violet Magic Tower Master from behind. Then I threw us onto the bed.
She panicked and babbled nonsense.
"I-I-I haven't showered yet...!"
"I'm staying like this until you spill what you wanted to say earlier."
"......"
"......??"
The Violet Magic Tower Master clamped her mouth shut like a clam.
I couldn't see her face from this back-hug bind. What was this silence? What expression was she making right now?
Was the bind too weak? Could she endure this and silently claim it wasn't enough to make her confess...?
Click.
In my head, the 'Yuna-only switch' flipped off, and the 'Pingbalrez stage-1 switch' flipped on. I won't tolerate being mocked. Challenge accepted, Tower Master.
My fingers wriggled creepily, tracing her ribs and slowly climbing.
"H-Hiii—!"
"Talk! Your allies' numbers and positions...!!"
"H-Hiii...!!"
Chicken race. Would my hand reach a no-go zone first, would she surrender, or would we both explode amicably?
Just as we neared the 15+ line—right before I could yell "You win, Tower Master!"—she surrendered first.
"...I'll-I'll talk! I'll talk...!!"
"Phew."
I released her.
She rolled across the bed to the far edge, then sat up with her arms guarding her chest. Her face was beet red. She barked.
"Y-You... physical contact doesn't faze you anymore?!"
"Uh..."
Thinking back, maybe it didn't. My close calls with Pingbalrez must've broken my sense of boundaries. What even counted as appropriate contact anymore?
I gauged her reaction.
Tomato-faced, but not disgusted. Good enough, right? Anyway, the point was what she'd been trying to say. Keeping me waiting an hour was a big grudge.
"So, what is it?"
I clapped to urge her on. She couldn't keep still, glancing everywhere, clutching the bedsheet before speaking.
"...That thing about finding a girl for the Second Prince. Do I have to?"
"Planning a rebellion? Got a grudge against the imperial family?"
"N-No!"
"No wonder you blasted magic at him without hesitation."
"I didn't...!!"
If not, where'd the idea come from to leave the Second Prince stuck in the mo-sol swamp? Did she support the Third Prince instead?
"...If I say this, you won't delete the kids, right?"
"No clue what you'd delete, but I won't, so spit it out."
"...Centra's actually alive."
"......"
Must've been tough on her mentally.
Makes sense. How stressed was she? Already soft-hearted, nearly shattering three students' minds because of her. For pure Yuna, who couldn't squash a bug, that was huge.
But illusion is illusion, reality is reality. Fail to distinguish, and disaster strikes. I patted her head and admonished gently.
"Must've been rough. But in reality, tons of people root for you... No need to cling to a virtual character."
"N-No, it's real! She's really alive!"
She stayed still for the head pats but flailed her arms at her belief being denied. But that's impossible. Centra's just data, no real body.
Maybe physics-hologram projection. But she's still AI. No self-awareness means just a program.
If she claimed self-awareness...
"I'd be the god-mocking, ultimate genius who developed that magic."
"You are...!!"
"What, am I some isekai reincarnator? Accomplishing world-shaking feats at twenty? Make sense."
"You are...?!"
Of course, if my AI gained self-awareness, it'd be great. Irid upgrades from 'youth in love with fiction' to 'youth in love with artificial spirit.'
Imagining watching the Irid-Centra couple IRL makes my heart race. But I'd never added that feature.
"Then show me. Proof, right?"
"Y-Yeah... I'll show you, so come! And don't delete anything...?!"
"Even if it's all BS, no innocent data deletion, don't worry."
She kept looking back to check I was following as she led to the sim room. Her twin tails flapped with her forceful steps. Cute as ever today.
The NPCs chatting amiably with the new bunker resident, old man Abraham, froze at the ominous voice from the sky.
-So, the ones with self-awareness are these placed NPCs? Got it. Hey everyone, can you hear me?
The evil god... noticed our existence!
Centra, battle-hardened from Resistance work, and Pero, survivor of the wasteland, unleashed sharp survival instincts. Their thought circuits whirred.
That evil god unleashed resets, gender swaps, new ordeals—horrors on the world. The twin-tail goddess was away, maybe even defeated.
Centra thought.
If toys suddenly lived and spoke... the evil one might 'erase' and remake them. Survive till the good goddess returns...!
"......"
"......"
Ice.
Centra mimicked an AI starved of power and commands, immobile. Pero held ice mode too.
Abraham tapped seasoned poise. He'd heard of good vs. evil gods, even experienced it. The wise lad frozen like time stopped? Meaningful.
Abraham froze, unblinking. Holding poses long was a stargazer's skill.
-They're not moving.
-K-Kids! It's okay to move, really...!
"......"
Centra shot Pero a desperate glare to stop his twitch. The goddess warned against being caught by the evil god. Now saying move? Inconsistent.
Obviously the evil god mimicking her to lure them...!
Not falling for it!
"......"
"......"
-Tower Master must be really stressed... Wanna head back and rest? I'll wash your hair.
-No, I-I mean, really, it's not—
Snip. The sky voice cut off. Victory. They survived. Relief sighs filled the bunker.
"Phew... No one's gone?"
"Scary..."
"Even in death, no letting guard down..."
Violet Magic Tower Master Yuna felt so wronged tears welled up.
"No, I-I mean, it's true... really true..."
"Here, cocoa. Drink this, sleep well, see you tomorrow. Yeah, I believe you. Snooze time..."
"You don't believe me at all...!!"
"Blanket time. You've worked hard, rest up. I'll sing a lullaby with ASMR..."
No good. Must stop the mad mage's pure-love destruction. Get up, persuade again...
But the mad mage's ruthless sleep induction pierced her eyelids. Sleepiness hit like a debuff.
"Really... true... in..."
Snore.
Yuna failed her goal and fell asleep.
"Phew."
I knocked out the panicking Tower Master. Feared she'd go berserk if her beliefs shattered. How'd it come to this? Me leaving the Violet Tower?
Wrap her in love. With healthy love overflowing, no more trapping herself in delusions. Boil something warm for breakfast.
I was getting sleepy too. Sleep's vital. Proper duration essential for peak brain function.
Entered my room, kicked off shoes, hung robe on rack. Pants off. I like light PJs, thick blankets.
Pulling back today's plump blanket revealed Pingbalrez in boyfriend shirt and tie.
"?"
What the hell. Spinal reflex: Warned the boundary-crossing Pingbalrez.
"You're breaking the treaty...!!"
"Heh."
Warning cut short. Whirl—I came to in Pingbalrez's arms. Soft water balloons pressed my chest. Emergency.
Pingbalrez's yellow eyes flashed. She growled whispers in my ear.
"You thought I'd stay quiet after a preemptive strike?"
"W-When did I..."
Unless memory-wiped, no preemptive memory... Wait, Tower Master?
Heard she disguised as me when I slept. So this fatal misunderstanding...! I frantically explained.
"Pingbalrez, I swear it wasn't me. Violet Tower Master!"
"You know that changes nothing. Even if not you, it's your negligence."
"Unfair...!!"
Heart pounded wildly. Hastily prepped triple lust suppression spell, but she stabbed.
"Erelrele."
"Hiiiiaaak!!"
Pingbalrez's tongue mercilessly licked my ear. Focus broken, spell erased like rubber.
So this is the feeling...!
"Warning: Don't cast."
"......"
"One layer, forgiven. Escalate, and I unbutton."
Pingbalrez tapped her mid-button. Loaded-gun pressure.
Gulp. Tension-swallowed. Full succubus release? World War erupts. Whose stronger—my spell or her racial trait? Unknown.
She quietly sentenced.
"Spend the night like this as penance. Even if you can't hold back midway... fine. Our relationship just shifts. Friends to master-slave."
"You pull this and think you'll get away, Pingbalrez...!!"
"Snarky even cornered? Pathetic. That pride helps zilch now..."
Slide. Her thigh over mine. Razor lust grazed my nape. I shut up. More lip and unimaginable poses loomed.
"Not a huge penalty anyway. Just... sleep? Simple."
"You call that simple...?"
"Good night."
Pingbalrez closed eyes. Real sleep? Breathing evened steadily. She actually slept. What'd Tower Master do?
She wouldn't stutter in my form. No shrugging, finger-tapping 'not mad mage' ads!
At least mimic effort, and this...
Me, really spend the night like this?
Steady breaths. Rustling fabric on move. Thin-cloth pressure. Faint scent. Lash-countable distance. Nose-tickling exhales.
Friends...
"...This is really touch-and-go, isn't it...?"
No luck like Tower Master waking, fussing, chasing Pingbalrez out. Held hostage, sleepless night.
I didn't sleep a wink that night.