A Date Amidst the Shadows
After wrapping up my business in the Black Market, I returned to the Merian Marquisate's mansion. But the very moment I stepped through the door, I was greeted by... "Where on earth did you pick up another strange woman?!" It was Micaris Merian's furious roar.
"Mica! You wrong me. I only brought her because I couldn't bear to see her sold off into slavery..."
"Silence! Going to the Black Market was bad enough, but you actually brought a woman back with you?!" Without even looking back, Micaris stormed off toward her room. Her footsteps were so heavy they shook the floorboards with a loud thud, thud, thud.
Sigh, I knew this would happen. I squeezed my eyes shut. As I tilted my head back and bit my lip, Sojeon spoke up hesitantly.
"I am terribly sorry. Because of me..."
"No, it is quite alright." Sojeon was fidgeting, anxiously reading the room. To ease her mind, I turned to the head butler.
"Butler, this lady is a princess from the East. It seems she was kidnapped by an unsavory group and brought all the way to the West. Could you help her settle in comfortably?"
"Shall she be treated as a guest?" the butler asked. I turned to Sojeon. "Would you prefer to be a guest, or a servant?"
"...I will serve as a maid," she replied, choosing the latter. It made sense; staying as a guest in the home of complete strangers in a foreign land would have been incredibly awkward for her.
"Then please see to her training as a maid." "Understood, my lord." The butler led Sojeon away toward the servants' quarters. ...Come to think of it, I still didn't know the butler's name. Well, he never introduced himself, so of course I didn't know. But don't people usually introduce themselves? I'll just ask him later.
There was nothing I could do about Micaris's temper right now. When dealing with an angry person, it's always best to give them some space before attempting to reconcile. Instead, I headed to the Marquis's office to deliver my report.
"...I could have sworn you said you were only going to retrieve the Dark Magic Encyclopedia."
"I simply could not stand by and watch her be sold into slavery." Marquis Dinlight's face contorted.
"This could escalate into a major political issue. You interfered with the business of another noble."
"You need not worry about that. I left absolutely no evidence behind." Marquis Dinlight gasped in shock.
"Don't tell me you killed them all?!"
"Of course not. I merely knocked them unconscious before taking her." Marquis Dinlight let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, thank goodness. Just be careful not to cause any major incidents in the future."
"Thank you for your leniency, Father-in-law." With those final words, I left his office. And now... I was standing outside Micaris's room, trying to coax her out and appease her anger.
"Mica? Mica. You know how I feel, don't you?"
"..."
"Mica?" No matter how many times I called her name, there was no response. Knocking on the door, singing a song—nothing worked. In the end, I resorted to my trump card.
"Well, if Mica won't speak to me, I suppose I'll head over to the Estupina Duchy. I was invited to visit sometime, after all."
Crash! The moment the words left my mouth, Micaris's door flew open.
"Absolutely not." Looking into Micaris's eyes, I could see literal sparks flying.
"Mica, let's talk for a moment."
"...About what?"
"I want to apologize. For going to the Black Market without telling you, and for bringing another woman back." Micaris remained silent. However, seeing her tense expression soften slightly, I knew her anger was beginning to melt away. I should have apologized right from the start. It was my mistake.
"Mica, let's go out into the estate today. I'd love to go on a date with you. It's been a while."
"A... date?"
"Yes. We haven't gone out together just the two of us since we visited the Imperial Capital, have we? I wanted to take you out before it gets too late." Micaris's face flushed as red as an apple as she gently pulled the door shut.
"...Wait a moment. I need to change." The nearby maids quickly filed into the room after her. Come to think of it, noble ladies always had servants help them dress. It was a classic romance fantasy trope.
After waiting in the lobby for a short while, Micaris descended the stairs, dressed to the nines. "Shall we go? I'll show you around our territory." "I'm looking forward to seeing the Merian Marquisate." Micaris hummed a cheerful tune as she tugged on my hand. Watching her, I couldn't help but smile warmly.
"..." We had set out into the estate with high spirits, but a slight problem arose. Micaris didn't actually know her way around the territory very well either. Well, I had expected as much. Overburdened with her noble education, she probably never had the time or luxury to wander around her own fief. As I let out a wry chuckle, Micaris apologized sheepishly.
"I'm sorry... I rarely go outside, so I can't really guide you..."
"It's fine. We can just think of it as an adventure for the two of us. Where should we head first?" I took her hand and led the way. Wandering around aimlessly, taking in the sights, and eating delicious street food—isn't that what a date is all about? Though, truth be told, I don't know my way around here either...
And so, Micaris and I began our stroll through the estate. We sampled food from street vendors and browsed through various accessory shops. But then, I spotted something that made my jaw drop.
"Cotton candy?!" "What's wrong?" No, seriously, how on earth did they make cotton candy in this era? And where did they even get sugar? My curiosity was instantly piqued.
"Excuse me, but is sugar easily accessible to commoners in this territory?"
"Sugar? For nobles, perhaps, but commoners usually find Sweet Oil much easier to obtain."
Sweet Oil. It was a sweet-smelling oil that commoners frequently used as a cheap substitute for sugar. But making cotton candy out of Sweet Oil? How was that even possible? Unable to suppress my curiosity, I dragged Micaris toward the cotton candy stall.
"Is this your first time seeing cotton candy?" "Not exactly, but..." As we approached the stall, the vendor called out to us. "Here to buy some cotton candy? Give it a try!" The owner quickly spun a fresh batch and handed it to us. I had expected it to be cheap like in the modern world, but it was surprisingly pricey.
"Hmm..." The taste was incredibly bland. Actually, it felt like eating a feather that just happened to smell sweet. Well, I suppose that was to be expected since it wasn't made of real sugar... Plus, the shape was a bit bizarre.
"Doesn't it just taste like normal cotton candy?" "Mmm. I suppose so?" Real cotton candy didn't taste like this. I desperately wanted to let Micaris taste the cotton candy from my original world, but that was an impossible wish...
Holding the feather-like cotton candy in one hand, Micaris and I continued our walk. By the time our legs began to ache, we found a bench in a quiet park and sat down to chat.
"Hey, remember how we promised to travel together after graduating from the academy? Where should we go first?"
"Well, personally, I'd like to slay a dragon right off the bat..."
"Then I'll have to work extra hard to keep up." To even scratch a dragon, one needed to be at least a 7th-circle Archmage... Well, since it was Micaris, she'd probably achieve it eventually.
"There's no need to rush. I'm just happy that we'll all be traveling together."
"All of us?" Ah, slip of the tongue. "Slaying a dragon is no small feat; the two of us alone wouldn't be enough, would we? Like I mentioned before, Lady Line and Lady Ronya should come with us too."
"...I suppose so." Micaris puffed out her cheeks. "By the way, who is that girl majoring in divine magic you mentioned the other day?"
"I've only heard rumors, but apparently her talent for divine magic is extraordinary. She's the second daughter of the Ruthenia Marquisate."
"The Ruthenia Marquisate?" Micaris furrowed her brow. "Is there something wrong with them?" "I recall their heir being beyond strange—he's downright eccentric and cruel."
Beyond strange and cruel, huh? "Could you tell me more about him?"
"He's incredibly rude and violent. I saw his younger sister with him once, and she was trembling like a leaf just from being in his presence."
"..." Was she being abused? Perhaps her timid personality was a result of that violence.
"Anyway, you only want to recruit her for our adventures, right? You don't have any... other intentions, do you?"
"Of course. Having a divine attribute user is crucial." Hearing my answer, the corners of Micaris's lips curled upward. "Good, then." Micaris looked up at the sky with a soft smile. I wanted to give her a little present.
"Mica, want to see something cool?" "Like what?" "Just keep looking up at the bright sky." Micaris tilted her head back and gazed upward.
"Haze." Whoosh! A thick darkness instantly swallowed the area, enveloping Micaris, myself, and most of the park.
"Kyaaa!" "What is this?! What's happening?!" "Mommy! Mommy!" Panic erupted among the people in the park. Uh, this wasn't what I intended.
Just then, Micaris called out to me in a trembling voice. "What's going on? Hound, what did you do?" Ah, screw it. I drew Aeterna and channeled my Aura to its absolute limit.
Flash! Aeterna resonated with my Aura, unleashing a brilliant stream of light that pierced through the dense shroud of darkness. As the shadows gradually receded, everyone's eyes were drawn to my glowing blade.
"Wait, was this some kind of festival event?" "I didn't hear anything about it..." "Mommy, look over there! It's a hero!" Thanks to my quick thinking, the crowd's reaction turned positive.
But Micaris's expression was... "You scared the life out of me!"
"I'm sorry. This didn't exactly go the way I planned..."
"Still... it was actually quite nice. The light piercing through the darkness... it felt just like when I first met you." Micaris's voice trailed off.
"What was that?" "...I said, I love you." "Huh?!"
For a split second, I thought my heart was going to leap right out of my chest. Saying something like that so casually... Looking closer, I noticed her earlobes were flushed a deep crimson. Since she had gathered the courage to say it, I had to give her an answer.
"Ahem. Me too." "..." Micaris simply smiled and looked back up at the sky without another word. I quietly watched her. That face, that expression. That was the carefree, worry-free face I had wanted to give her from the very beginning. As I sat on the bench, silently gazing at her, the sun began to dip below the horizon.
"Mica, shall we head back now?" "Yes, let's. We've walked quite a lot today." Hand in hand, we made our way back to the mansion.
Immediately after our date, I headed straight to the training grounds. It was truly time to focus on my growth. But seriously, what was up with the range of that Haze spell? To check the status of my abilities, I opened the Special Shop.
No wonder the Haze was so potent. My dark magic mastery was incredibly high. Was this the effect of the Dark Mage's Path package? There was no way my mastery could have jumped this much just from using a few Dark Magic Bullets and Haze. Well, there was no point overthinking it. Higher mastery was always a good thing.
I flipped open the Dark Magic Encyclopedia. My target was the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. To protect the girls from the Contamination that could strike at any moment, I had to master this spell as quickly as possible. And I also needed to reach the realm of a Sword Saint. Honestly, the sheer volume of tasks ahead of me was overwhelming. If a professor or a teacher assigned this much homework, they'd be flooded with angry phone calls demanding to know if they had lost their minds.
"Phew..." I let out a deep sigh, massaging my throbbing temples. My mind was racing with anxiety.
My original goal was just to become the strongest in this world and build a harem of villainesses... Yet here I was, suddenly tasked with saving the world. And from a mysterious threat like Contamination, no less.
... I immediately threw myself into training. Idle thoughts would only breed laziness. Activating my Eye of Clairvoyance, I began reading the Dark Magic Encyclopedia while simultaneously entering a state of deep meditation. I knocked on the door to open the path to the 7-star realm. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead, pooling at the tip of my nose from the sheer intensity of my focus. The result... was failure. I couldn't reach it.
I feel like I'm right on the cusp of that realm... I reached out as if to grasp the scattering fragments of light. I tried desperately to seize them, but they slipped through my fingers, leaking through the gaps I had yet to fill. Well, if reaching the Sword Saint level were that easy, every common sellsword would be called one. Honestly, I was already progressing at an absurdly fast pace thanks to my cheats.
As I lost myself in endless training, the start of the academy semester drew near. The entrance celebration party—the catalyst for every single event to come—was finally upon us.