Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Return
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-Rattle rattle
"By the way, customer, what's that bundle you've got there?"
"Oh, this?"
I glanced down at the bundle clutched to my chest in response to her question.
Come to think of it, I'd been so caught up in everything that I'd half-forgotten it even existed.
It's like when you're holding the remote control but still scan the room looking for it. Exactly that kind of feeling.
I'd been gripping it unconsciously, but at some point, I'd even forgotten I was holding it.
"They said it was payment, so I took it... but I'd blanked on it too."
"You looked in such a huge rush, but you managed to grab this just fine?"
"...Yeah, go figure."
I really was something else.
In the middle of fleeing for my life, I'd somehow kept a firm hold on this.
'Well, I went through hell to earn it, so of course I'd hang onto it.'
No matter how scared I was, I had to claim my due reward for all that hardship.
If I'd just bolted out of there empty-handed out of fear, it'd be worse than free labor—I'd just end up with mental trauma and nothing else.
'Though the 'payment' was probably just a bit of pocket change.'
My guess turned out to be spot on.
I unwrapped the bundle with a somewhat dubious expression, and inside were about fifty gold coins—or whatever their currency was—along with something unexpected.
"...What's this?"
"Looks like... booze?"
"No, I can see it's booze, but why the hell is it in here...?"
A liquor bottle, carefully wrapped in a wooden case to prevent breakage, was tucked in alongside everything else.
Even wrapped like that, how did they think it'd be fine stuffed into a simple bundle? What if it shattered?
"Do people usually store liquor like this?"
"...It's not exactly standard, but... if we're nitpicking, the Demonic Cult itself isn't exactly a standard organization anyway..."
"...Fair point. Can't argue with that."
I'd nearly lost some precious liquor if I'd handled the bundle roughly. With a pounding heart, I cautiously uncorked it and took a whiff.
It had a subtle yet intense aroma. Nothing unpleasant about it at all.
'This is some seriously rare stuff.'
Just moments ago, I'd been chugging booze right up to the brink of passing out, so now that this scent hit my nose, saliva flooded my mouth like I was Pavlov's dog.
If I were a dog instead of a person—with a tail and all—I'd probably be wagging it furiously right now.
'Blocked.'
'That counts as the pinnacle of civilization?'
That world is doomed.
Absolutely doomed.
I ignored the rotten saintess writhing in agony from the fact bomb I'd dropped without thinking and pulled out the small scrap of paper that had come with the liquor.
It was written in elegant handwriting that seemed to belong to a woman, and the moment I read the contents, I knew exactly who it was from.
[Next time, I'll treat you to something even better.]
'...Heavenly Demon.'
My fated partner, as foretold by the heavenly secrets.
A beautiful woman with matching tastes and hobbies—any man would be thrilled to have her as destiny's choice. But all I felt was dread.
I just wished this fate would never come to pass. I swear to the heavens, I wasn't looking forward to it even 1%...
'...'
...Okay, maybe a tiny bit. But barely.
I wasn't about to live a life locked in some basement, raped and bred day in and day out.
Just like the future Heavenly Demon had said before we parted, I planned to struggle as hard as I could.
The heavenly secrets were just possibilities among many—not a fixed future.
In that sense, it had been a wise choice not to leak any heavenly secrets to the current Heavenly Demon amid all that chaos.
The common misconception about leaking heavenly secrets is that doing so prevents that future from happening. That's not true at all.
For example, if someone is about to die of a heart attack in one minute, and you tell them... will that future be averted?
Of course not.
Even if they try to avoid it after the leak, nothing changes just from that—in fact, it might invite an even worse fate.
Another example: an assassin is hiding, waiting to slit your throat in one minute. You tell them that.
The assassin, overhearing, slits your throat right then.
That's what leaking heavenly secrets does.
If I'd tried to dodge the future by telling the Heavenly Demon I was her fated partner right there...
She'd already seemed a bit interested in me by then...
'I'd probably have been dragged straight to the basement.'
We'd only just met that day, so maybe not immediately... but the impact of what the future version did to me was too huge.
In my mind, she was already a prospective rapist.
She'd have no reason to feel wronged.
She even said she had a lover, yet she seduced me like that—what kind of ethics is that?
No matter how terrifying she was, her beauty made it an agonizing mix of half-thrill, half-terror just to brush it off.
"Haa..."
"Why the sigh again?"
"Life in this world is just too damn hard."
"When has it ever been easy?"
"...That's some helpful wisdom right there."
Yeah, whatever.
When has life ever been easy?
I had no idea how I'd ended up buried under a pile of beauties on the verge of being crushed to death, but I couldn't turn back time anyway.
Now I had to figure out how to avoid taking the Heavenly Demon as a wife.
'...'
The absurdity of it all made me chuckle despite myself.
Anyone else looking on would probably see me as either some gut-busting slob about to pop or a massive narcissist.
'The real problem is my gut actually feels like it's gonna burst.'
I'd prefer it if I were just a narcissist.
Come on, Saintess, tell me I'm full of myself quick.
'Et tu, Brute!!!'
Ah, she's sulking.
'...What do you want?'
'Anything but that.'
'I keep telling you, that's a hard no.'
'It's too soon for that between us.'
'After unlocking all the CGs and clearing the true ending?'
'It's sequel bait.'
These were conversations I could never have with the women of the martial world, and just that eased my mind a bit.
She might hail from a fantasy world rather than Earth, but thanks to her diligent studies, we could actually communicate—and that alone was a huge comfort.
'Studying another world just to kidnap me? How touching.'
'I learned contracts without a guardian's consent for minors are void.'
'Sure, but with that appearance, anyone would think...'
I barely stopped the conversation from veering into world-ending territory.
Anyway, enough chit-chat.
'So why haven't you responded until now?'
Time to ask why she'd been MIA all this time.
From the moment I'd set foot in Demonic Cult territory, my connection to the Saintess had been severed.
Everything related to her—the shop window included—had vanished completely, without a trace. For a moment, I even wondered if it had all been a dream from the start.
-Drip drip
'Scared of the Heavenly Demon?'
'...For real?'
I'd half-said it as a joke, but there was no comeback.
'......'
'I haven't even said anything yet.'
The Saintess bowed her head with a gloomy expression.
Still, with no clue when I'd run into the Heavenly Demon again, I needed to stock up on every possible countermeasure. Some things I just had to know.
'So, I can't even use the shop window in front of the Heavenly Demon?'
'Hmm...'
Better not plan on buying anything on the spot, then.
I mentally noted to stock up on necessities in advance.
With that settled, I started pondering what exactly to buy to escape that dangerous woman's clutches.
Given her status, it wasn't so much escaping her grasp as making her lose interest in me—that seemed more effective.
'Should I just do something to make her hate me?'
An idea hit: deliberately act creepy to tank her favorability.
Something a guy does that'd make a woman dislike him...
For instance...
'Sexual harassment?'
She'd probably write me off as a creep and lose any romantic interest, right?
Let's think it through.
If I grit my teeth and groped her chest...
...On second thought, the issue wouldn't be dropping favorability—it'd be whether my head stayed attached to my neck.
Treat her well, and favorability skyrockets, endangering my chastity.
Treat her poorly, and my life is on the line.
And I have to deal with a woman like this again?
'...Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to do?'
I wiped away the tears that had leaked out unbidden and thumped my chest.
At least I wouldn't be bored on the way back.