Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Tigers' Fight #5
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I'd heard that fairy bodily fluids, nails, and the like have been used as materials for rare magic tools since ancient times.
That's why, long ago, nymphs were indiscriminately captured and abused by humans.
I'm only half nymph, but from another perspective, I'm half nymph, so it wouldn't be strange if my semen had the effect of boosting people's condition.
Of course, Elga said it was unbelievable.
"Eating yours makes you stronger? What kind of nonsense is that? Whatever. I'm out."
Whoosh.
With that, Elga really left the rooftop. She vanished without looking back, clearly sulking over what I'd just done.
"Hoo."
There was nothing to be done about Elga being upset.
Still, surviving somehow was the important thing.
And I'd realized that the new hypnosis skill Gamigin I'd acquired wasn't all that amazing, but it was useful enough.
Anyway, tomorrow Elga fights the fourth-ranked student, right?
I should go watch if I can.
With that in mind, as I was about to leave the rooftop shed,
"Hm?"
My half-fairy keen senses picked up something odd through the gap between the shattered door and the cracked, crumbling wall.
Letters?
They were letters.
Spotting writing beneath the wallpaper, I peeled off the moldy, worn strips from the shed wall. And there, I found strange sentences inscribed underneath.
"Reinhardt, Alistair, and Isaiah. Here, the dream—."
The familiar names made me strip off all the wallpaper. The letters, carved into the plaster wall like with a dagger, unfortunately ended there.
Isaiah, huh.
A name I'd never seen before. I committed it to memory.
* * *
Wednesday evening, after that weird day with Elga.
I headed to the grand temple.
Because on Wednesday evenings, there was a secret lecture not listed on the schedule.
As I walked along the temple's promenade for a while, I heard someone galloping up—tatdat.
Turning my head, I saw someone in a white blouse and blue skirt waving at me as she approached.
"Lady Narmi. You're earlier than I expected."
Every Wednesday night was my time to meet Narmi Draco.
To put it precisely, it was when Narmi Draco, the self-proclaimed love doctor, gave me various advice and lectures about women.
"How've you been?"
"I've been well."
Swish.
I noticed Narmi's appearance had changed a bit.
Compared to before, when her long silver hair cascaded like silk, now she'd tied it into cute twin tails with black ribbon bands for emphasis.
"You changed your hair?"
"Yeah! What do you think? Does it suit me?"
Narmi asked, seeming a little shy.
Narmi and Mirna shared the same body, so aside from the difference in cheerfulness and haughtiness, they were honestly hard to tell apart.
But starting to differentiate with hairstyles like this really gave off twin sisters vibes.
"It suits you well."
"Really? My sister said it was weird.... Anyway, have you been okay? I heard you got caught up in some big incident with her?"
The big incident probably meant what happened with Professor Ballan at the old temple ruins. Memories of it flashed through my mind, and I nodded.
"Yeah, it was a big deal."
"While I was asleep, our dad and all my relatives ascended! The family graveyard's completely empty!"
"Is that so?"
"Yeah! Now I don't have to stay up all night guarding the graves anymore. It's great. But now I have more free time, so every night after my sister falls asleep, I sneak out for walks like this."
Narmi giggled like a naughty kid—puhuhu.
I'd worried she might be sad about her family's bodies disappearing.
But for her, who'd always gloomily guarded the graveyard, it seemed like a weight had lifted off her shoulders.
"Is Lady Mirna sleeping now?"
"Yeah, yeah. I came out pretending to be her instead."
"Did she say anything about me, by chance?"
I subtly probed Narmi about her sister, Mirna Draco.
I wondered if Mirna, who'd proposed to me, had said anything to her sister Narmi.
What if she heard I'd proposed to Mirna?
Narmi vaguely knew about my thing with Elga, right?
That thought made me realize how many cards Narmi Draco held over me.
How much karma had I sown?
"My sister, about you? Nah, she didn't say much."
Whew, relief for now.
But if Narmi started going out for nightly walks, it'd only be a matter of time before she heard rumors about Theo Gospel proposing to the Draco family.
So, I decided to appeal to the relatively open-minded and cheerful Narmi for help.
"Um, Lady Narmi. Don't misunderstand. I'm about to say something really important. Seriously important."
"What're you trying to say? 'Don't misunderstand'? Important stuff?"
I could feel Narmi, who'd been walking the promenade with me, getting flustered. Maybe feeling the pressure.
"You sound like you're about to confess or something."
"Well, you could call it a confession. Or a confession of sins...."
"W-What? Don't confuse me. Spit it out already."
Narmi perked up like she was about to hear juicy gossip, but for me, it was a matter of survival.
I threw away my shame and got straight to it.
"I... I messed up big time with Lady Mirna."
"Messed up with my sister? What do you mean?"
"I ended up proposing to her."
"Proposing?"
She stopped dead.
I halted too.
Narmi looked back at me, baffled.
"What are you talking about? Proposing to my sister? Theo, don't you have Lady Lioness?"
That reaction was expected.
"Planning to two-time her?"
Two-time—fitting vocab for a self-proclaimed love doctor.
But two-timing between those two? No way. My legs would surely split like the magpie following the stork.
I'd probably die split in half by Elga and Mirna's whips.
"Lady Mirna seems to have misunderstood a bit. She doesn't know I'm seeing Lady Elga."
"What's that got to do with proposing to my sister?"
"Whenever I see your sister Mirna, I keep thinking of you, her little sister Narmi. I treated her kindly and friendly, and she seems to have mistaken it for me liking her."
"Hmm~. So my sister got the wrong idea all on her own?"
"Exactly. That's it."
"My sister can be dense about that stuff! But this is bad. If she realizes it was her own misunderstanding, she might kill you out of embarrassment, Theo."
"No, but it wasn't my fault?"
"That's how my sister is. So, to sum up, you don't actually like her, right?"
"Like or not, we haven't even talked much. Of course, she's definitely attractive.... Spend enough time together, and maybe I'd propose...."
Maybe because my answer was vague, Narmi raised her index finger—swish.
"Theo. Even if church and Angmar law allow multiple wives, think carefully. Most Angmar kings who built harems got torn apart by their wives."
"Harems?"
"You don't know about King Alivar Angmar and his 40-wife harem? Angmar kings were famous for having lots of spouses. Queen Calista had twelve husbands."
Oh, really.
New info. Hitting on multiple women at once must be an Angmar family instinct.
Makes sense—it was probably their politics. Arranged marriages with famous tiger clans and nobles for stability.
I was doing the same, really.
Building productive ties with Lioness, Draco, and other families to lead my house, my country, and my life to a happy ending.
"And if you propose to my sister, you should know it means getting me too. Did she say anything about me?"
"No."
At my firm reply, Narmi drooped her silver twin tails, looking disappointed.
"Well, yeah. A girl with two souls in one body might creep people out. She wants to keep me secret...."
"...Hm."
Marrying Mirna Draco means living with Narmi too. Can't separate them.
Married life with a woman of two personalities.
It felt eerie, but with Narmi Draco, it didn't sound bad. She's kind, cheerful, and pretty understanding.
If someone asked which lady around me I'd want normal dating with, Narmi'd rank high.
So I was honest.
"I think it'd be fine. There are plenty of broad-minded guys like me out there."
Marry the sister, get the stepsister as a bonus—maybe crack a joke like that? Nah, it'd probably make Narmi despise me, so I held back.
But Narmi was already flustered.
"You think it'd be fine? Even with us weird twin sisters?"
"Yeah."
"R-Really!"
Narmi's face flushed bright red. Scared she might take it as a confession, I hurriedly added clarifiers.
"Of course, the proposal to Mirna was a bit of a misunderstanding."
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Okay—I'll try to help somehow. And Theo, you should play along with my sister for a while."
"Probably best."
"My sister's the type to lose interest quick. This'll probably blow over in a few days."
Narmi gave me earnest advice like it was her own issue.
The only other time I'd felt this kindness was when Imp Marmar gave me the tail wand. My nose tingled oddly.
"I'm always troubling you, Lady Narmi. Sorry."
"It's fine! I like having someone to talk to. Theo, aside from my sister, you're my only real conversational partner. I'm like the dark side of the moon no one sees."
Under the full moon's bright white light, Narmi flashed her white teeth in a smile.
Her twin tails swayed in the rustling breeze. Ruby-red eyes. Everything clear in my sight.
The dark side of the moon.
Perfect metaphor for Narmi, but bittersweet.
"It's getting chilly! Let's head in!"