Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Helen's Defeat
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Max's question about what the discrepancy was finally jolted Helen's mind awake.
The emptiness still lingered in her body, along with the pleasure that continued to tickle her heart.
Her skirt and panties were soaked through with sticky love juices and squirt.
But her mind snapped back to reality faster than anything.
"Ah...."
She had forgotten for a moment, lost in the pleasure.
The reason she had entered this illusion.
Wasn't it to find the discrepancy in the illusion magic somehow and beat Max?
Right.
I came here to defeat this man.
So I have to answer.
The correct answer I came up with.
Max had said it.
The discrepancy was an inevitable byproduct of creating illusion magic.
Something that makes you realize it's not reality.
That's what the discrepancy was.
In that brief illusion, Helen recalled the thing that had made her realize that world was fake.
There's only one.
It's that one.
"...Aisen Prophard."
It was that man.
Helen knew a loser like him could never change that much.
Even if Max had recommended him to the Meister School, she knew better than anyone that he didn't have the talent to succeed to that extent.
And he wasn't the type of person who could dare defile her like that.
No matter how much she had been exiled from the Silvesta family.
Right?
I won, didn't I?
"Why is that?"
"That loser could never subdue me. That's the reason."
Helen answered in a trembling voice.
Come on, declare your defeat already.
Say you lost.
Max shrugged his shoulders.
"Your approach was good. Unfortunately, wrong."
Aisen Prophard wasn't the discrepancy?
No way.
"So you're saying that loser will try to defile me later?"
"You're misunderstanding. The video I showed you isn't something that happens in the real future. It's just an illusion. An illusion where someone else's desires were projected onto you. And the Aisen in that video is the 'designed' Aisen Prophard I created."
"So the discrepancy...."
"Lady Silvesta, didn't it strike you as odd that you could use spirits even inside the illusion?"
"Huh? What do you...."
"I mentioned it in class. In powerful illusions, mana flows backward, so abilities often don't manifest properly."
-In powerful illusions, mana flows backward, so your abilities often don't manifest properly.
Max's voice echoed in her mind.
"The stronger the illusion magic set up by a skilled illusion mage, the harder it is to manifest abilities. Yet Lady Silvesta used hers skillfully inside the illusion."
"...That was the discrepancy?"
"Yes."
"But! That's...."
"It's the same as what happens in reality, so it's not a discrepancy?"
"Right."
It was supposed to be something that lets you distinguish reality from illusion.
So being able to use spirits shouldn't be a discrepancy.
"Then, is it possible to use a magic circle to turn the spirits contracted to you into his limbs?"
"...Huh?"
It felt like she'd been smacked in the head.
Spirit contract.
That was a contract that could never be transferred to another person.
Not a simple contract, but one where souls connect through mana.
A contract linking the souls of humans in the material world and spirits in the spirit world.
No magic could break it or control it arbitrarily.
That's why Helen hadn't been able to do anything about the spirits' betrayal.
She had thought that loser had somehow created impossible magic.
"What magic did that Aisen use on you?"
"...Ah."
Aisen hadn't used any magic.
He'd just made the spirits unresponsive to her will and given them orders.
The ones who bound her, prevented her resistance, and even tormented her breasts were all spirits.
"The spirits themselves were the discrepancy?"
"Correct. I even gave you the hint about keeping them close, and you still got it wrong. A bit disappointing."
"No, that's...."
She had no comeback.
Max had clearly given her the hint.
She was the one who hadn't grasped the essence of spirit contracts.
It infuriated her that she hadn't seen the truth beyond the surface.
But she couldn't say a word.
The moment she did, it'd just sound like excuses.
This was a complete defeat.
"...I lost."
"Nice to see you admit it cleanly."
"So what do you want."
"Pardon?"
"I said it. If I won, you'd tell me Yuris's weakness. But I didn't hear the condition if you won."
She glared up at Max, grinding her teeth.
"I'm a Silvesta. I keep my promises."
"Go inside and wash up first. How long are you going to stay like that, embarrassing yourself?"
"...."
Only then did Helen look down at herself.
Her current state was a mess.
Her proud academy uniform was stained with sweat, love juices, squirt, and even urine. Her hair was disheveled.
A few buttons on her shirt had come undone, exposing her cleavage—probably from during the illusion magic.
It was an appearance no one would believe belonged to a Silvesta lady.
Realizing it was too shameful to show others, she covered her chest and crotch with her hands.
"Pervert...."
Confirming her shirt was undone, she glared up at Max.
"It was necessary for the realism of the illusion."
"...."
"Wash up first. I'll tell you my wish after."
"Fine."
Helen rushed into the shower room.
Glancing back to see Max cleaning the spot where she'd been, she fled in rising shame.
After showering and regaining some composure, Helen dressed in the fresh clothes Max had prepared, her body now clean and dry.
They weren't as fine as Silvesta family garments, but still made of pretty luxurious fabric.
The design was pretty tacky, though.
A baggy lavender outfit.
The buttonless, zipperless pajamas-like clothes softly hugged her body.
She didn't like the design, but the comfort wasn't bad.
"Wear that until your uniform dries. I cleaned it with Clean magic, but removing that much filth takes longer than expected."
"...."
She felt her face flush with humiliation.
She couldn't deny that she'd felt it too much, even if it wasn't her own desire.
"...Good. While we wait for the laundry, I can hear your wish."
"You're my student and a customer. I can't grant wishes."
"No. This is the result of our bet. Enjoy the winner's rights as much as you want. Don't be petty about it."
"Hmm...."
Her words were strong, but Helen was extremely tense.
She knew.
The Aisen Prophard she'd seen in the illusion was definitely this man, Max, acting.
The face of Max reflected beneath Aisen Prophard while she was swimming in waves of pleasure.
It was definitely this man.
The one who had insulted and defiled her in the illusion.
Perhaps because she knew the illusion's scenes were caused by this man.
Her heart tightened as she made her offer.
Thump thump.
Tense, she clutched her racing heart, waiting for his response.
Tension, fear, and a hint of anticipation.
That was what kept exciting her now.
'Wait, anticipation?'
Am I anticipating this?
This man defiling me?
Don't be ridiculous.
I'm just scared.
I promised to grant his wish to protect the Silvesta honor, but I don't know what he'll do, so I'm tense.
Chanting it to herself like a mantra, she looked up at Max's response.
"If you insist, then fine."
"W-What do you want...?"
Her voice trembled.
It cracked a bit at the end.
"Simple."
His lavender eyes fixed on her.
Under his faded grayish hair, those vivid lavender eyes scanned her up and down.
Each sweep of his gaze made Helen flinch involuntarily.
A strange anticipation.
Fear of not knowing what he'd do.
Those subtle emotions tangled in her heart.
"Do a survey for me."
"...What?"
The weird anticipation and fear that had built up burst in an instant at Max's wish.
Feeling a bit deflated, Helen asked in disbelief.
He dragged it out this much just for a survey?
No, before that—she, a Silvesta, said whatever you want, and it's just a survey?
The disappointment was short-lived.
"Come to think of it, I've never heard Lady Silvesta's desires directly. Up until now, it was Yuris's desires projected onto you, right?"
Helen smirked at Max's following words.
As expected.
I knew it wouldn't end this tamely.
"You want to hear my desires?"
"Something like that. We're a theater that reflects customers' desires. I'd like to shine Lady Silvesta's desires on the screen."
My desires.
She'd never really thought about it.
"Right now?"
"No. Come back in a week. We'll do the survey then. Reflect on your desires as much as possible until then."
"Inducing repeat visits. You're a skilled merchant."
"Business is slow. Got to hold onto the customers I have."
"...Fine. I'll do the survey next time I visit."
"I'll be waiting."
She looked at Max.
His words about wanting to uncover her desires.
'He's a total devil.'
Wanting to know a woman's intimate secrets.
How lecherous is this guy?
'No helping it. I made a promise as a Silvesta.'
Biting her lower lip as she gazed at him, Helen didn't realize she was already looking forward to her next visit.
"Alright. Prepare properly. Next time, I'll come not as a student, but as Lady Silvesta."
"Gaaah!"
"Save me~~!!"
The bandits' lair on Mangor Mountain was burning.
The bandits, subjugated by the Empire's knights before they could even build their forces, screamed and fled in panic.
"Why is the Empire's knights here!"
"Monsters!"
"Run!"
The Empire's 1st Knight Order, clad in shining golden armor.
"Subjugate all bandits who torment the Empire's citizens and the weak!"
The guardians of the Goddess of Victory, the Empire's strongest force, had come all the way to Mangor Mountain just to deal with mere bandits.
"Kill all who resist! Spare those who surrender, but execute any showing signs of ambush."
"Yes!"
Yuris led the knights, crushing the bandits.
The familiar forest.
The familiar mountain.
Every scene was familiar.
But...
"Ugh, p-please spare me...."
"This isn't right."
The bandits trembling in fear before her weren't the real ones she'd seen in the illusion.
Fake bandits.
Fake men.
No different from the ordinary enemies she trampled.
She'd come all this way herself with a sliver of hope.
The tiny hope that maybe they were real.
But against her wishes, the bandits were too weak.
Too weak to dominate her.
"Pathetic."
She coldly eyed the bandit collapsing before her, pissing himself.
"P-Please spare me...."
Not even worth killing.
A worthless bandit preying on the weak.
Sheathing her sword, she tossed handcuffs at him.
"Cuff yourself."
"Th-Thank you."
Sighing, Yuris sheathed her sword and thought.
'I want to see Master.'
A lewd thought the Goddess of Victory would never have.