Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: School Opening Season Where Hearts Open #1
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“Status window.”
Text floated into view.
No matter how many times I’d seen it, these letters still didn’t feel familiar at all.
It had been a whole week since I’d gained access to the status window.
I’d been holed up in my office at the palace, wrestling with these letters.
==============================
Name: Theo Gospel Angmar lv. 15
Jobs: Half-Fairy lv. 2
Lecher lv. 3
Actor lv. 7
Tamer lv. 2
Mage lv. 1
Talents: 《Tenri Eye》 《Calm Thinking》
Alignment: Chaotic-Neutral.
You are the sole survivor of a fallen house.
Evade the enemies who seek your family’s destruction and restore it to glory.
Fortunately, you brim with the will to rebuild your house.
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What the hell is all this?
The most eye-catching part was the “Angmar” at the end of my name. I wasn’t stupid enough not to grasp what that implied.
And the description below kindly spelled it out, didn’t it?
Sole survivor of a fallen house.
Overcome your enemies and survive.
That was my role.
Was Theo Gospel originally this kind of character?
No, not from what I remembered. For starters, the Angmar house had already been written out of the original novel and didn’t appear at all.
If a scion of that house had shown up, it would’ve been a huge story spotlight, and there’s no way I’d have forgotten it.
Maybe Theo Gospel had some hidden MacGuffin I didn’t know about?
I couldn’t be sure.
One thing was crystal clear: the “genre shift” I’d been planning had gone completely off the rails, spinning wildly out of control.
Simply struggling to avoid the execution ending wouldn’t cut it anymore.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on my door.
Was it the imp, Marmar?
Lunchtime wasn’t for a while yet.
“Who is it?”
“Who else? It’s your big sis. You’ve been too swamped with work to come out lately, right?”
It was Elga’s voice.
Elga, the eldest daughter of House Lioness. Before I could even reply, she flung the door open and strode into my office.
“……!”
The moment I saw her face, the hairs on my head began to stand on end. The “Lioness” surname trailing her name suddenly loomed huge in my mind.
It was as if the history books of the Angmar kingdom were unfurling before my eyes.
Your house incited the rebellion that felled the Demon King.
They’d burned every scrap related to the Demon King, leaving nothing but ashes behind—or so I’d heard. If those people learned my true identity—?
My body might not just end up on the execution block; it could be torn to shreds.
That thought made Elga seem like the most dangerous thing imaginable.
But thanks to my talent, I managed to keep my cool.
I took a light breath and asked her casually, as if nothing was wrong.
“What brings you here?”
“Aira was asking if you were doing okay with work, so I came to check. More importantly, why are you holed up in this corner like this? It’s not like you.”
Swish—.
Elga leaned forward from across the office desk, peering at me intently.
“You’ve been acting weird lately.”
“Weird how?”
“Weird? You seriously asking that?”
Had she figured out I was an Angmar descendant?
Elga had a beast-like intuition, like a feline predator. Maybe she had.
Just as cold sweat trickled down my back, Elga averted her gaze and scratched her cheek.
“Getting rejected by me hit you that hard? That’s what this is about, right?”
“Ah….”
“And that thing back then. You haven’t told anyone, have you?”
She probably meant the time I’d groped her chest. As if I’d go blabbing about that.
“No, I haven’t.”
“I haven’t either. That’s our secret—forever, just between us. Got it…?”
“Yeah. It has to be.”
“Good. Look, I’m human too. I won’t tell you to give up on me all at once. So, here—take this.”
Swish.
Elga pulled something from behind her hips and thrust it toward me. It was a doll.
A clumsily sewn doll. The stitches were sloppy, the finishing rough—like a rag chewed up by a dog.
But the materials were high-quality: golden thread for the hair.
Blue buttons for eyes, wrapped in red fabric resembling a dress.
Crude as it was, it felt like a deformed caricature of someone I knew.
The culprit herself looked away as she spoke.
“Pretend it’s me. Look at it every day. And little by little, forget me.”
She made it herself? Elga, making a stuffed doll?
I pictured her alone in her room, fabric and needle in hand, stitching away.
Honestly, it was hard to imagine, but this amateurish mess could only be her handiwork.
“Anyway, I’m out!”
With that, Elga spun and left.
Soon, text appeared before my eyes.
Ding-.
「Successfully deceived the target.
Gained job experience for ‘Actor’. +50」
「Job ‘Actor’ level up!
Lv. 7 → Lv. 8
Chance to fool others increases!」
Got it.
Just as I’d roughly guessed.
I had five jobs: Half-Fairy, Lecher, Actor, Tamer, Mage.
Each had levels, and doing job-appropriate actions leveled them up. That seemed to be the system.
It was so game-like, it was easy to adapt to.
My Actor level was highest because I’d literally been playacting as Theo Gospel this whole time, right?
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked lightly, then slowly entered.
“Comrade! I brought food! Burning the midnight oil for the workers is great, but even when busy, you gotta eat, yeah?”
It was Marmar, the orange-haired imp in nun’s garb.
Not a nun, but she wore the habit anyway—and stockings and heels suited her well.
Of course, she was a monster.
As Marmar shut the door and entered, I asked her.
“Marmar, about this system thing.”
“What about it?”
“How many jobs can you have total?”
“Usually one or two? I’ve got Succubus and Evangelist for now! There’s one more, but that’s a secret.”
I see. A secret, huh?
Squint—.
I narrowed my eyes thin and examined Marmar.
I felt my talent 《Tenri Eye》 activate. How? Instinct, I guess.
The effect mattered more than the feeling anyway.
==============================
Name: Marmar Marnoi lv. 7
Jobs: Succubus lv. 3
Evangelist lv. 2
Revolutionary lv. 2
Talents: 《Striking Voice》
Alignment: Chaotic-Good.
A succubus born from a corrupted fairy.
She feels slight favor toward you.
[Locked]
[Locked]
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Marmar Marnoi? How many “Mar”s is that?
Anyway.
I set the thought aside.
I scrutinized Marmar’s entries. She shuddered and grimaced.
“Feels like you’re peering into my bones! Why are your eyes like that?”
She didn’t suspect I was reading her status. Was reading others’ info that rare?
Anyway, my 《Tenri Eye》 talent let me read others’ information.
Not everything—some were [Locked].
But “locked” implied it could be unlocked somehow. I’d figure that out later.
“Hm.”
I deactivated the talent and rubbed my eyes.
They felt dry, like ill-fitting contacts.
More eye strain than expected. Still, a useful ability.
Recalling what I’d just read, I asked Marmar.
“What’s the level next to jobs?”
“Exactly what it says—your proficiency! Max is 10, but certain conditions let you raise the cap.”
“And total levels across all jobs make your overall level?”
“Right! As expected of a comrade doing imp-like work—you catch on quick! Quick on the uptake saves time. Saved time means more labor!”
My gaming background helped. With five jobs, could I hit level 50?
“Can’t change jobs?”
“Nope! But meet those conditions, and you can promote. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
Marmar grinned slyly, heh heh heh.
“Promote?”
“Like climbing the class ladder. A worker ascending to capitalist. I’m a succubus now, but someday I’ll promote all the way to archdevil.”
“That possible? You, an archdevil?”
I eyed the slender succubus. Hard to buy, but Marmar brimmed with confidence.
“Yeah! Hard work makes it happen! A society where effort equals reward! That’s the world Lord Angmar dreamed of. Cool, right?”
“Sure, all good—but can we skip mentioning Angmar here?”
“Oh—right, this is Queen Tarantara’s palace. Den of enemies.”
She pressed a finger to her lips—shh.
I warned her to be careful, but her words were helpful anyway.
She’d nailed the status window’s purpose and essence.
Earn XP through effort.
Grow into something better with XP.
If something that convenient suddenly appeared in the world, chaos was inevitable. Especially if “inferior” monsters got it—.
If slaves got it?
If commoners, beggars, thugs crawling in the mud got it?
No wonder Demon King Angmar got torn apart by the great houses.
Change always sparks fierce clashes with entrenched powers. I knew from pushing reforms myself.
Most who called me a yokel or a scheming advisor were just resisting change.
Ding-.
「Calm situational judgment!
Gained XP via talent 《Calm Thinking》.
+5 XP to all jobs」
I waved the text away.
Enough thinking. Time to move. I’d wasted too much time already.
Even Aira and Elga were starting to find my seclusion odd.
* * *
“Alright, let’s wrap up today’s palace business. On-duty staff stay; everyone else, dismissed.”
“Sir Reinhardt, there’s a banquet tonight hosted by Lord Belmont. Care to join?”
“Sorry, prior engagement. Dismissed, everyone.”
Rumble—.
The ministers gathered at the palace filed out.
A week ago, their faces had been ashen as storm clouds. Now they seemed spring-bright, satisfied even.
I tuned into their chatter. Half-fairy ears catch even whispers.
“With Aira and Theo gone, it’s so relaxing.”
“Yeah. Never knew when we’d drop dead—gut-wrenching.”
“Reinhardt the Duke is scary, but those two… ugh. Anyway, they’re off to the academy soon, right?”
“Probably the succession issue. The Church doesn’t recognize Tarantara’s royals. They want academy scores to prove themselves.”
“Smart move, honestly. Church approval means more heroes dispatched here. Better security, too.”
“Yeah. Might even reconcile Draco house with the queen. They haven’t shown their faces in years—”
Rustle, rustle.
They were buzzing about Aira going to the academy.
The tyrant ruling by fear and pressure was leaving the country, and they were thrilled.
How dare the queen attend a foreign school—.
A head of state can’t be away long—.
You’d expect gripes like that, but hawks and doves alike encouraged her studies.
Of course, too late for objections now—the queen’s mind was set.
Swish.
I watched the servants and workers hauling piles from the palace.
Tomorrow, those goods headed to the Holy Kingdom’s Ark facility.
━Never thought Queen Aira would leave the palace for foreign studies.
━Yeah. What’s Theo scheming?
━Might as well pack extra—hope she stays gone a while.
Not forever, of course.
Anyway.
Everything abuzz and open: school opening season.
Never dreamed I’d feel this vibe here again.