Competition
"Hmm..."
Isolet sat in front of me, sipping her tea.
"......"
Meanwhile, Lulu and Irina, pressed right up against my side, glared at Isolet with icy expressions.
"Um, Sis."
"What is it?"
"How long are you planning to stay here?"
I tossed the question at Isolet casually, and her eyebrow arched upward.
Then she looked at me with eyes that said she had no idea what I was talking about, as if she couldn't comprehend it at all.
"This tea has a nice aroma."
"I asked when you're leaving."
"What's the name of this tea?"
"......"
This kind of exchange had been going on for a while now.
For some reason, after the investigation team withdrew, she'd started following me around like a shadow and had been lounging in my house for hours.
"Um, Fr... Frey. Mind if I take a quick look around your room?"
"Sure, whatever. Then..."
- BAM!
"...Huh?"
She'd asked to see my room while slyly avoiding my gaze, then the moment I gave permission, she darted inside and slammed the door shut.
"...What are you doing?"
"Hwah... Ah! No, I mean... You're using a nice bed. For a sickly guy like you, nothing's more important than a good bed, so I was testing if yours is up to par."
"...?"
She didn't come out for ages, so I got worried something happened and used the spare key to open the door—only to find her curled up under the covers, lying in my bed.
"Why were you rummaging through my wardrobe drawers... Never mind."
"I-It wasn't me. The investigation team... the investigation team did it."
There were clear signs the drawers in my wardrobe had been opened.
"So this is the famous Starlight family's... underground storage."
"So, how long are you staying?"
"...Urk."
"Sis?"
Next, she insisted on seeing the underground storage, so we went in together—only for her to stand there stock-still for dozens of minutes, staring at me with a creepy gaze and trembling.
"......"
"You like it that much? Want one?"
"N-No... I don't really need it..."
She gawked slack-jawed at the photos lining the hallway: me smiling as a kid, sweating through sword training, and in my academy uniform on enrollment day.
"Come to think of it, you said that back then."
"Huh?"
"I love Sis! When I grow up, I'm gonna marry Sis!"
"......"
She murmured it wistfully from the training grounds in the mansion courtyard.
Anyway, after letting her wander the place for hours without noticing the time, she was now leisurely sipping tea right in front of me.
It was a bit awkward, sure, but...
Still, she did help me out today.
That much was undeniable.
She was talented enough that the imperial family had offered her vice-captain of the knights and the church straight-up captaincy.
With demon king outbreaks flipping most knight orders upside down lately, nearly all the knights were her juniors or subordinates.
Plus, she was the eldest daughter of one of the few prestigious marquess houses and had just been tapped as leader of the hero party.
No way the investigation team's vice-captains—acting as de facto leaders—could overpower her with brute force or authority.
After failing to intimidate me, they'd taken a scolding from her, then tearfully withdrawn the team like they had no choice.
Of course, that wouldn't fully resolve things.
A ton of illicit black magic tools and dirty ledgers had already been handed over, and while Isolet was scheming to leverage today's "incident" for a settlement, it was anyone's guess if it'd work.
"Phew."
But none of that mattered to me.
If Isolet pulled off the settlement somehow, it'd buy me breathing room against the next attack.
And if she failed? Points for me anyway.
No issue there...
...Right?
- Thump...!
"Urgh."
Sudden agony stabbed my heart.
"Frey?"
"Master!"
I clutched my chest, face paling, and Lulu and Irina grabbed me in alarm.
"Ah..."
At the same time, Isolet froze mid-sip, tea cup in hand.
Annoying.
Lately, these heart pains had been hitting more often.
Painkillers did nothing, so maybe it was psychological?
"M-Master..."
As I pondered, Lulu approached with a terrified look.
Lick.
She suddenly flicked her tongue over my lips.
Lick, lick.
Clutching my arm with trembling hands, she licked every corner of my lips, then whispered shakily in my ear.
"D-Don't worry..."
"Huh?"
"I'll... f-find some way somehow..."
Her lips were tinged with fresh blood.
...I thought it was just anxiety.
Lately, whenever worry hit, my heart stung like this—I figured it was ramped-up anxiety symptoms.
But heart pain wasn't just from anxiety.
My body was slowly dying—that was the biggest culprit.
Vomiting blood only after overexertion? Now it happened from a twinge of unease. That confirmed it.
With three penalties plus a special one, no wonder...
But this pace was trouble.
Was there really no way to restore my shredded lifespan and vitality?
"Hmm..."
As my heart burned, I quietly summoned the system window into the air.
Remove Serena's Subjugation Curse
🎁 Reward: ???, ???, ???, ???, Serena's 19+ Event Unlocked, Priority Designation
Maybe there's a way after all.
My ancestor said Serena's Subjugation Curse had an unlock code but no execution method in the game.
And there was one more like that: the code to extend my lifespan and vitality.
Clear this quest, lift the curse... which means...
A way to run the "code" for an unsolvable curse had appeared before me.
That implied a way to extend my lifespan existed somewhere too.
Sure, asking the system before got a "no such method exists."
But that was system-limited, right? And pre-update.
........
The affection system finished updating, but everything else was still chugging along frozen...
Worth hoping for.
- Thump...!
"...Hah."
Of course, this sudden "anxiety spike" needed fixing too.
Coughing blood from the slightest unease? That'd be a nightmare.
"......"
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up—everyone around was staring blankly at me.
"Whine..."
Lulu whimpered, rubbing her head against my side.
"Even now... it's not too late... Just feed him good food and elixirs... We have to keep him alive..."
Isolet muttered in a panic.
"......"
Irina silently hooked her arm in mine.
"Hm."
Watching them, a thought struck me.
So... what the hell are these age-restricted events?
Isolet was definitely eyeing me with those shady vibes—three "post-priority" events, no less.
No clue what they were, but...
And top-priority events... what could they be?
Lulu, nuzzling my side and sniffling, had one unlocked.
She was nominally top priority, but the system window was doing something hilarious.
Next to the three names, those labels flashed in different colors: black for Kania, red for Irina, yellow for Clana.
[Candidate Selection Ends: Final Day of Vacation.]
Like they were competing.
So one of the three—no, one of the five—would get an event with me this vacation?
Come to think of it, Serena's unlock just popped too.
But only the quest name and rewards showed—no progress method, solution, or even accept button. Nothing to do.
Anyway, per the system, it'd happen before vacation ended.
Who'd it be?
Who knows.
Intriguing, but not the priority.
Or maybe it was important, but...
More crucial: each heroine's "latent potential."
Seemed like completing their routes unlocked it.
Did that mean... I had to seduce them all?
- Beep, bleep!
I shuddered at the conclusion when a mechanical tone chimed from ahead.
"...Hello."
Isolet pulled a communication magic tool from her bosom and started talking.
"That was a legitimate exercise of authority. So... What?"
Her expression soured—some issue cropped up.
"...Understood."
After a long call, she hung up and stared at me.
"Looks like I have to head out."
She stood with a reluctant look.
"Come to my place in a week. We need training, and unfinished talk can wait till then."
I'd earnestly explained again that I wasn't dying soon, but she didn't seem convinced.
"Well then..."
"Sis."
As she headed darkly for the entrance, I finally voiced the question I'd been mulling.
"...What's that you've been clutching since earlier?"
"...!"
She flinched mid-stride and froze.
"Th-This...?"
She gingerly pulled something from her bosom.
"Y-You gave it to me, didn't you?"
"......"
Isolet held out the photo albums she'd stared at blankly for dozens of minutes earlier.
"I... see?"
"Y-Yeah. No problem."
But her belly still bulged noticeably.
A woman who'd never had a protruding stomach from lifelong intense training.
"Come to think of it, why was my wardrobe door..."
"S-See ya."
I tilted my head and took a step toward her; she bolted for the entrance.
- Clank.
She vanished from the mansion in a flash.
"...Hoo."
Relief washed over me as Isolet left, mingled with an odd pang of regret.
"...What?"
As I sank onto the sofa amid the mixed feelings, Irina frowned and stood.
"Clana... already here? Why? How?"
"...?"
Chatting without a communication crystal... Telepathy maybe?
"...Tch."
I stared blankly as she casually upended the magic world like it was nothing; she started gnawing her lip.
"Frey, I gotta run somewhere quick."
"Uh, y-yeah..."
"Call me with telepathy if it's dangerous. Or rip this scroll. I'll come running."
She shoved a pile of scrolls into my arms.
"You broke our promise... Clana!"
She stormed out snarling.
"What the hell..."
A chill ran through me as I blankly watched her go.
"...Right, Serena's coming."
She was due to visit with results on the commission I'd given her.
I started prepping to greet her, but...
"Master..."
"Yeah?"
Lulu, sitting quietly beside me, glanced around, then coiled around my arm.
I tilted my head.
"Now it's just... Master and me alone?"
Staring intently, she whispered softly.
"I have something to say, Master."
"Listen."
......
Meanwhile, at that moment.
"Hm hm humm~ Hmm~"
"...Sigh."
Serena, grinning goofily for some reason, entered the Starlight Mansion with Miho, who looked thoroughly pissed.
"Gonna see Frey~♪ Date time~♪ Hehe..."
"Human, are you a genius? Or just insane?"
"Hehehe, hehe..."
Ignoring Miho's question, she giggled vacantly while crossing the courtyard.
"...?"
Then she cocked her head.
"What?"
Her sharp eyes caught odd movement near the mansion windows—in the bushes.
"...Hm?"
The dopey smile vanished; her gaze sharpened.
"B-Bloo... blood... U-Ugh..."
Aishi, who'd come to check on Frey under the pretense of playing, had witnessed his coughing blood and was sniffling alone in the bushes.
"Fr-Frey can't be dying... It's gotta be fake. Yeah."
Rosewin, eyes darting anxiously, hid there too.