The Consequences of Aggro (7)
Even while Novena reeled in confusion, time marched steadily on.
"Winner, Adeluna!"
"…."
A scrawny commoner girl everyone had expected to lose without a fight had instead claimed victory without so much as a scratch. Worse still, she had won through a merciless strike that ignored every unspoken rule and targeted Burgang's manhood. The students who had come to watch the duel fell into a stunned silence.
In the middle of that unreadable quiet, healing mages finally came running to treat him and began pouring magic into Burgang's groin. Reluctant to lay hands on another man's private parts, they kept a handspan of distance and worked remotely. Magic capable of restoring missing organs and even reviving the freshly dead sealed the bleeding and external wounds in moments.
Even that remarkable healing magic, however, was not enough to restore function to a manhood that had been ruined beyond repair. It was as if some omnipotent being had deliberately drawn a line that magic could not cross—an unavoidable limit, no different from how healing magic could never cure hair loss, rhinitis, or chronic constipation.
"…I'm afraid this is as far as we can go."
With the healing mage's declaration, Burgang was officially certified a eunuch in front of a crowd of students. The sole legitimate heir of House Yungtoa had become a sexual cripple who could never continue the bloodline.
"…C-communication orb! Someone get a communication orb!"
One student's shout set the kingdom's students stampeding off to deliver the hot news. Exactly the situation Burgang had imagined when he dragged the kingdom's students along with him had come to pass…except that he himself had become the subject of the gossip.
To students scrambling to redefine their relationship with House Yungtoa, a minor detail like that hardly mattered.
Amid that chaos—
"You…you didn't see it? The moment Adel died…?"
At Novena's low question, even Hino beside her wore a grave expression.
"Explain it properly."
This was a clue. A clue to why she had been unable to read Adel's memories, and why Adel carried the memories of dying countless times.
Novena had worried Hino might react strangely to the words she had blurted out without thinking. Fortunately, Hino's face remained serious. There was no need to probe her true feelings.
Unlike her usual self, Novena held nothing back as she tried to describe the horrific scene she had witnessed in as much detail as possible.
It had felt like déjà vu. Whether exhaustion had made her dream it in that instant or not—she had seen Adel die with her neck twisted at a grotesque angle. And then a similar situation had unfolded in reality, only this time Adel was unharmed and Burgang was the one who lost.
"It must have been the future."
"Bullshit! If that was the future, Adel should have died!"
Novena was so rattled she abandoned all dignity and spat curses one after another. But Hino, well-versed in illusion magic and a wide range of other disciplines, could already guess at a certain possibility.
"Yeah. You're right. She would have died."
"You—don't tell me you already knew something?"
"That's…"
Just as the two of them were about to share what they knew and piece the situation together—
"Ehehe! Novena! Hino!"
Somehow she had found them. Adel came charging over with both arms thrown wide. Pink hair bouncing, face lit with a pure, childlike smile—anyone who didn't know the situation would have found the sight heartwarming. Even the bloodstains on the tips of her shoes somehow failed to spoil the picture.
"…Are you hurt anywhere?"
Novena and Hino exchanged a look, confirmed each other's thoughts without a word, and decided to let Adel celebrate to her heart's content as if nothing had happened.
Hehe, I won!
I died once, but it was no big deal.
"…You bastard. Horny eunuch bastard. Gorilla."
Burgang had activated an artifact at a moment I never saw coming, so I couldn't dodge the attack. It couldn't be helped—and thanks to that, on the second try I won without taking a single wound.
I could still feel the soft, squelching sensation of something crushing under the tip of my shoe.
Ugh, gross.
After a thrashing like that, he wouldn't be strutting around the Academy with his head held high anytime soon. And if those guys had even a shred of conscience left, they wouldn't go proposing to Novena while sporting a ruined crotch.
"Haa…"
I finally felt a little lighter. The only real regret was that, just to get through this moment, I had overwritten the very first starting save file—the one that could roll everything back.
Lunatic mode only gave you three save slots to begin with, and it auto-saved however it damn well pleased just to torment players. But there was one little exploit. When the main story wasn't actively progressing, if you opened the load screen and selected Check Heroine Affinity, it would force an auto-save. The downside was that no matter how many slots you had, it always overwrote slot one.
Well, considering it let me save and load whenever I wanted, that wasn't much of a problem.
Except now that the game had become reality, I had no idea whether a systemic bug like that would still work. If the system window hadn't popped up when I took the Growth Powder today, I never would have even tried it.
But!
Even if it was pure coincidence, the system window did show up, right? So I figured preparing for death was smarter than just dying. And as a veteran who had earned the top one percent All-Clear achievement in Four Crowns, my judgment proved correct.
Novena—the heroine I had met and talked with most often since possessing this game. Just as expected, her affinity had already broken through stage one. By checking her affinity mid-duel, I forced a save.
Thank you, Novena!
I love you, Novena!
—Crrraaack!
So the instant Burgang's attack snuffed me out before I could even feel the pain, I loaded straight back to the save from the middle of the duel.
"Hehe…"
It was all thanks to Novena. Novena was invincible. Novena was a goddess! She must have had her own schedule, yet she still came all the way out here with that busy body of hers just to watch my duel.
Next save, I should check Hino's and Professor Enut's affinities.
I glanced over. At some point Novena and Hino had gotten friendly enough to sit together chatting.
"…Huh."
Something felt off. Why did it look like Novena was clinging to Hino? And why wasn't Hino pushing her away? They shouldn't even know each other, right?
It was unpleasant. It made me anxious. While I was out there risking my life for the two of them, it felt like they might just walk away from me.
For someone dreaming of a lily harem, it wasn't only the "males" who were rivals—the "females" were rivals too…
That was absolutely not allowed.
What I wanted was a situation where everyone focused on me—not some open, filthy free-for-all where they all loved each other. If I had to watch that, I'd rather reload a few times and change the outcome.
But the number-one save that could take me back to the starting point had already been overwritten.
Panicking, I spun on my heel without hesitation and broke into a desperate run toward the two of them.
Look at me.
Care about me.
No matter how hard I ran, though, their eyes never turned my way. As if I weren't even worth noticing, Novena and Hino just kept talking with serious faces.
…Was this not enough?
The way I had crushed Burgang's manhood and made him a eunuch—if I stabbed my own belly and made myself unable to get pregnant, would they look at me then? After all, Novena and Hino had watched Burgang go down so carefully.
So…
Ah.
I stopped the hand that had been twitching down toward my dagger.
What kind of stupid thought was that? Getting my neck snapped must have cut off oxygen to my brain and left me more shaken than I realized.
Right. I must never touch my belly. The only ones allowed to touch my belly—my body—were the heroines who would stay with me.
My body belonged to them.
The moment I thought that, the thoughts that had been sinking into darkness grew a little lighter.
"Ehehe! Novena!! Hino!!"
So I smiled. Brighter than anyone. Happier than anyone. With the carefree innocence of someone who hadn't a single worry in the world.
"…Are you hurt anywhere?"
Just as I had hoped, both of their gazes locked onto me.
Aha.
Exactly as I thought. Novena and Hino clearly preferred seeing me happy over seeing me sad or in pain. So I must never show them struggling, or ugly jealousy. As long as I kept presenting a happy face, the two of them would stay by my side. And if they did, then no matter how hard things got, I could truly be happy.
I threw myself forward and pulled the watching Novena into a tight hug, then went straight to Hino and held her for exactly the same amount of time.
Five seconds each. Ten seconds of perfectly fair hugs in total.
Once those flawlessly equal embraces were over—
"Did you both come to watch my duel?"
"What are you talking about? I just happened to be passing by."
"Yeah. I came on purpose."
We traded pointless chatter. Novena with her tsundere act. Hino laying her feelings out without the slightest hesitation.
"Hey, if you say it like that, what does that make me?"
"A mean-spirited thug."
"You wanna get hit? Want to step outside and duel right now?"
Even with me sandwiched between them, the two of them kept up a conversation so natural it was like childhood friends who had known each other for years.
No. Stop it.
"Don't fight! Friends aren't supposed to fight."
"What are you, ten years old? What kind of nonsense is that?"
At my intervention, Novena let out a rare laugh, as if she'd just heard something ridiculous. My own smile brightened right along with it.
Ah, whatever. I'm in a good mood now!
…I'd just have to keep watch until the two of them split up.
"Let's go eat dinner! My treat!"
Between the coins I'd picked up at the fountain and the money I'd quietly lifted from the unconscious Burgang's pockets, I figured I could cover one meal. Whatever it cost, it wouldn't be too steep a price for raising affinity with Novena and Hino.
"You're treating? Do you even have money?"
"Of course! Anything you want to eat?"
She had no way of knowing the state of my wallet, yet Novena wore an oddly uneasy look. So I turned my pocket inside out and showed her the money myself.
A heavy clump of gold coins too thick to hold comfortably in one hand!
"Well—"
"Heh heh. I know a good place."
Only then did Novena and Hino nod, as if they had no choice, and go along with my plan.
That's right—look forward to it!
We hadn't been friends for long, but endless route experience meant I knew exactly what foods they liked and where their weak points were.
Novena would eat any kind of meat, but she especially preferred unseasoned steaks! Hino liked spicy broth dishes—ramen, a food that had crossed over from a fictional Japan, was her particular favorite!
As far as I knew, the only place that served both was a restaurant. It would be a little expensive, but…
It would work out somehow, right?
"Let's go!"
And with that, I grabbed both of their arms and led them along the path I had memorized from the game, straight toward the restaurant.