Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: My Turn - 2
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One of the few service scenes in this brutal game—where letting your guard down even slightly means game over—is the swimming pool at Raidnin.
Whether it's the pool right in front of our special suite or the large one that other guests use, it doesn't matter which one we go to, but if we have to choose, the special suite pool is probably better.
Sure, the facilities are nicer at the large pool, but privacy wins out.
"Princess, let's go after your preliminaries are done."
"Hmm. Sure. Whatever."
"But do you even have a swimsuit?"
"I bought one just for today. Be happy. It's rare to see even a church cardinal in a swimsuit."
Acting all high and mighty when she hasn't even unlocked the service scene achievement.
I almost bragged about having seen the one and only hero of the continent in a swimsuit but kept my mouth shut.
"Aren't you excited? Huh? Huh?"
Grinning slyly, Veronica poked my side, so I grabbed her finger, intertwined our hands, and used the healer's skill 'Calm.'
"Try being quiet. I'm focusing."
"Eek, eek!!"
Thanks to the skill, Veronica glanced around nervously before clamping her mouth shut.
Much better now that it's quiet.
In the newfound silence, I watched Lucille's duel and confirmed she had the overall advantage.
Wow. Who would've thought Wilkers would come in handy here.
"Uahaha! This is the power of Wolf Deck!"
"Urgh! To lose to a blabbermouth like you!"
Just then, a triumphant shout erupted from one of the tables. Wilkers had won. The burly, bald duelist who'd lost ground his teeth, spat out a typical loser's line like "You'll pay for this," and stormed off.
"Ah! Sage! You're here? Ooh~ Whee. Whee. What's this? What's going on? Why are you two holding hands?"
The moment he spotted Veronica and me holding hands, Wilkers whistled teasingly. Typical werewolf—such a perv.
As the beaming Wilkers approached, Veronica frantically waved her hands.
"I-It's not like that!"
"Not like what?"
"...You're teasing me, aren't you?"
Wilkers backed off with a goofy grin as Veronica narrowed her eyes.
"Oh. Time's up already. I gotta go meet Lark, so I'll head out."
"But what's this request you guys are here for?"
"Hmm. Well, I can tell you, Sage. It's no big deal. Just an investigation request. An investigation."
"Investigating what?"
"The Black Rebels organization. It's an official guild request. Apparently, their goons have been causing trouble everywhere lately. We got info that one of them is here."
"Oho."
"The request is to find out exactly what their goal is."
"Who's the client?"
"Can't say."
"Everyone knows it's the kingdom's mage Rakel, so just spill it."
"Yeah. Right. That... the kingdom's Rakel the mage. Man, Sage, you really know everything."
There was no achievement tied to the Black Rebels, but the event existed. Anyone who'd seen the game's ending knew it started with the kingdom's mage Rakel.
"Anyway, that's why we're here. Oh, Sage, do you know anything?"
"I don't know the exact members of the Black Rebels, but I know their goal."
"Ooh~ As expected of Sage! What is it? What?"
"Can't tell you."
"Tch. I told you mine."
I flashed a smile at the grumbling guy and turned away. Veronica was looking up at me with a sullen expression.
"This is serious, isn't it?"
"Hmm..."
Whether the Black Rebels event kicking off was serious...
Not really.
To me, anyway.
As expected, Lucille breezed through the preliminaries with flashy magic combos. She'd been anxious about not studying yesterday, but passing had brightened her face considerably.
"...Master! I won! I passed... Why are you two holding hands?"
"Oh? Can't friends hold hands?"
"It's not that they can't. Then it wouldn't matter if a master and student held hands, right?"
Without waiting for my answer, Lucille gently took my hand. Her beaming smile was so cute that I nodded.
Of course not.
"Master. As a reward for passing the preliminaries, could you grant one request of mine?"
"Let's hear it."
"...Could you drop the formal speech with me too?"
The only reason I used formal speech with Lucille was her position as princess—my employer. But it seemed to make her feel distant.
She hesitated, glancing at me cautiously, and I nodded.
"If that's what you want, I can do that much."
"Really? I thought you were keeping your distance because of the formalities..."
No one in this world intimidates me, at least. Anyway, she seemed satisfied and smiled brightly. Veronica, holding my other hand, squeezed it tightly.
"Anyway, let's go now that it's over."
"Where to?"
"The pool. Oh, right. Princess, you probably can't just show off your body so easily? Heh. Then stay here."
Provocative. No, this was outright taunting. As Veronica smirked, Lucille narrowed her eyes and stared her down. Veronica stared right back, like "What're you gonna do about it?"
"It's fine. It's in front of Master. What, are we strangers?"
"...Oho."
"And you're okay with it, Cardinal?"
"Totally fine. It's just a friend."
"...Ah. Right. Friends."
Lucille smiled sweetly at Veronica and added one more line.
"Best friends. Forever."
"...Princess. Ever heard the saying 'all in one'? Lord, master, father—they're one and the same..."
"..."
"..."
If I left them like this, they'd really grab each other by the collar. I pulled their hands.
"Let's go. To the pool."
"Yes."
"Yesss."
But they wouldn't let go? Walking's awkward like this. I felt people glancing at us as the three of us walked side by side, but neither showed any sign of releasing.
Even after reaching the palanquin, they didn't let go—instead, they clung tightly to my arms.
"Eek... S-So scary."
"I'm scared too..."
"..."
This spacious palanquin suddenly felt cramped.
Back at the special suite, while the two changed into swimsuits, I started prepping the pool.
First things first: purify the water. A priest's holy spell like Cleanse or Holy Water Creation would make this water pristine in no time.
Just as I prepared to cast...
Join tribe staff came rushing over, stopping me in a panic.
"Sage!"
"We'll do it!"
"No... I'm fine."
"But Lord Vermund said not to trouble you!"
"If you do this kind of work, we have no face. Please..."
The Join tribe staff bowed desperately. If they insisted that much, what could I do? As I relented, they sighed in relief and began preparations—not to purify, but to fetch fresh water entirely.
"Huh? What're you doing?"
"We're replacing it with water from the sacred spring at the deepest part of Raidnin Mountain."
Oho.
The sacred spring's water was accessible only after clearing Raidnin Mountain's event.
It was the Join tribe's holy site—a spring of endlessly pure water. One sip restored health and mana, and bathing in it boosted charm.
To use it required sufficient friendship with Vermund plus clearing the Raidnin Mountain event.
Since I met the conditions, they were swapping the pool water with it.
That's no small task.
Filling a pool with sacred spring water would take quite a while.
"It'll be ready in about 30 minutes."
"You're not just making extra work for yourselves?"
"It's fine!"
If they said so, who was I to argue? I nodded and watched them work. Join tribe members heading to Raidnin Mountain with huge barrels to fetch water—talk about going the extra mile...
"Huh? Hey, Sage! What's going on over there?"
Cecil shouted upon spotting the bustling Join tribe staff. Fair enough, it'd pique her curiosity.
I walked to the building's edge and explained to the puzzled Cecil.
"Sacred spring water? Wow. Even that precious stuff?"
"Heh. All thanks to my connections."
"Lucky. I had to risk my life just for the special suite."
"Keep striving."
Cecil grinned mischievously. That cat-like expression told me exactly what she was about to say.
"No."
"I haven't said anything yet."
"Fine if it were just me, but I'm with my party."
This vacation was a gift for Lucille and Veronica. The reins belonged to them. I couldn't just invite whoever I wanted.
"Tch. Too bad. Anyway... You heard from Vermund, right?"
About the Black Rebels?
"Yeah."
"Those guys are dreaming of reviving the Demon King. This okay?"
Leventia's shoulders trembled.
Was the name 'Demon King' traumatic for her? Makes sense—with that overwhelming power and filthy defense, facing it head-on as a frontliner would've been hell.
"Yeah."
"...Crazy bastards. But more than that, how's killing me connected to reviving the Demon King?"
"You know about it, right? The plague that started in the elf forest."
"Yeah."
The plague happened to harvest lives for death energy.
In other words, the same method could even revive the Demon King.
But the Black Rebels couldn't unleash a plague like that, and right after the main story ended, I'd already nipped most threats in the bud or cleaned them up. They didn't have many options left.
The best was originally assassinating the queen, but she'd survived an attempt during the Pale Moon event.
With her guards beefed up after that, and me practically glued to Lucille—who could stir chaos almost as well—they couldn't even try. So, second-best: target Cecil.
"So, killing me sparks a war over Archduke succession, and they harvest the death energy from that to revive the Demon King?"
"Close enough."
"...Hmm. Interesting. But Sage, from your position, you don't want me dead, right?"
"Right."
"So, you'll protect me?"
"Pretty much."
Of course, there were other ways.
Just wipe out the Black Rebels from the start.
Since the event was just beginning, crushing them early could end it prematurely.
Called a 'skip'—a go-to for speedrunners.
I'd skipped plenty of non-reward events like this.
Harder to get rewards, but easiest, fastest, and most convenient way to clear an event. Planning to skip this one too.
Useless pests—better to exterminate quick.
Catching the Demon King twice only nets the Demon King costume and a few extras anyway.
"Hmmmmm..."
A sly smile crept onto Cecil's face. Leventia fidgeted restlessly, glancing between us.
"Got it. See you next time then."
Cecil waved casually with a relaxed smile and headed inside. Leventia looked like she wanted to say something, lips parting.
"Hyunwoo!"
"Master!"
Their calls made me turn, and I couldn't help but clap.
Wow. This is impressive.
Author's Note
Hello! It's Malmulmalmul! Chuseok is finally here! Have a happy holiday, everyone!
As for consecutive updates... I'm not ready yet ㅠㅠ
I'll do them as soon as I'm prepared!
See you tomorrow! Bye~!!