Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: A Slightly Different Genre - 1
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***
"Ugh..."
A familiar ceiling came into view.
Cecil blinked several times to clear her blurry vision before slowly looking around.
It was her own room.
A barren space with only a desk, bookshelf, and tools for studying magic.
There was something out of place in this room she could visualize just by closing her eyes.
"You're awake, I see."
It was a calm voice. As Cecil slowly sat up, she brushed aside the cloth that had slipped down her body.
In the past, even a glance would have been met with the nauseating traces of the curse.
But now, it was different.
"Ah..."
Come to think of it, they had performed the curse removal.
In the mirror illuminated by moonlight was a stunning beauty with flawless, slender nakedness overflowing with charm. A beauty with skin so pure not a speck of dust could be found.
Realizing that was herself, Cecil trembled with overflowing joy.
Seeing the proof that the dragon's curse was completely gone made it feel real.
"It's... really gone..."
How much suffering, how much horror she had endured.
The curse, which she had accepted as inevitable like a natural disaster, had vanished without a trace.
Her body shook, and her vision began to blur with tears.
Clutching her face with both hands, Cecil sobbed.
As if pouring out all the past resentment.
"Sob... Hic... Sob..."
The fact that these weren't the tears of despair she usually shed when lamenting her situation filled her with joy.
Overwhelmed by surging emotions, Cecil just kept sobbing, and Veronica approached her.
"Hm... Seems like no particular issues."
"...Hic."
"Try using some mana."
Sniffling, Cecil raised her hand. The immense mana contained within her body remained even after the dragon's curse was lifted.
No, it felt even stronger than before.
"Good. You've been through a lot."
Veronica lightly patted Cecil's shoulder. Relieved by the words, Cecil slowly lifted her head.
"Your face is a mess. You. Your face is pretty, so how about being more careful from now on? You've got to get married and all. At Archduke level, you'll need political marriages... Let's see. There was a decent priest at the church... Or how about another noble? I could make introductions."
"...Hic. Hic. I'll... sob... handle that myself..."
The tone was oddly irritating, but right now, it didn't matter.
Cecil wiped her tears, blew her nose loudly once, and said to Veronica.
"But... where's the Sage?"
The person she couldn't thank enough was missing. Of course, Veronica had helped too, but the one who actually performed the curse removal was the Sage.
She needed to thank him first and foremost.
Yet he wasn't there.
"Who knows. Probably off resting?"
"....."
What an unusual person.
He saves the Archduke and the Claudia family, yet acts like he doesn't care for any formal thanks?
Cecil stared at Veronica silently.
"Why?"
"Just thinking you like unusual people."
Yeah. He's unusual.
She thought he wanted the magic stone because he coveted it when he asked for it to lift the dragon's curse.
It was a treasure of the Claudia family, but she had been willing to give it up if it meant ending the curse passed down through generations.
But even that was just preparation material for the removal.
So the Sage had saved her and the Claudia family without taking any reward?
How could someone do that?
People expect payment even for easy tasks.
But the Sage...
"That's just how he is. Ridiculously virtuous and goes around saving people on his own whim..."
Was it because she mentioned the Sage? Veronica's cool demeanor softened slightly.
Cecil stared at her wordlessly again. Veronica smirked for a moment before slowly standing up.
"Anyway, the curse is lifted, so we'll be on our way."
"We?"
"Yeah, we. You're not one of us anymore, right?"
The casual tone rubbed her the wrong way.
Of course, she knew the Sage and the Cardinal were close, but wasn't she friends with the Sage too?
After receiving such a favor, could he really be considered an outsider?
Everything has a price.
She had to repay the Sage.
Who knew when she'd see him again, given how he wandered like the wind.
Cecil slowly got out of bed. Slipping into an elegant, revealing dress she could only gaze at longingly before,
She said.
"I need to see the Sage too."
"You? Why?"
"Well..."
Of course, it was to express her gratitude and repay him.
But was that really all?
Meeting Veronica's narrowing eyes, Cecil bit her lip slightly.
Definitely.
It wasn't just that.
Ignoring the piercing gaze, Cecil rang the bell.
-Ding-a-ling.
"You called, Your Highness."
"Where's the Sage?"
"Uh... well. He went to Leventia and Evangeline."
The knight hesitated before carefully answering, and the two beauties' expressions twisted slightly.
He.
The ridiculously virtuous Sage who went around saving others.
She could guess why he went to see them.
Even those who had done something so horrific it was unspeakable, he intended to save them too.
At that thought, Veronica and Cecil left the room without a word, racing each other.
***
In the game, there are generally three ways to treat mental illnesses.
The first is to leave it to the church.
It takes time, but it's the cheapest way to cure mental illnesses.
Of course, party member affinity drops after treatment.
Which makes sense—it's basically locking them in a mental hospital.
But the affinity loss is minor enough to laugh off, so most players would hand over any afflicted party member to the church and recruit a new one.
The second is to obtain treatment potions.
In the game, mental illnesses are treated as status ailments, unlike real-life ones.
Naturally, potions can forcibly cancel the status.
However, unlike time-based healing, forced treatment only works on characters with sufficiently high mental strength, and even low-grade mental illnesses require hefty materials. So unless it's urgent, most players avoid it.
And the third.
The method old-timers mostly use.
Dumping it all on one person.
Achievement hunters often aim for Wall of the Heart.
The comprehensive mental ward achievement requires collecting 100 mental illnesses.
It's no easy feat—you won't get it without deliberately grinding during gameplay.
So most veterans prepare a character with boosted mental strength to avoid the grind.
In hardcore mode, they usually get the Sage the Pain Absorption skill and pile mental illnesses on him.
The Sage has higher mental strength than others, and certain achievements make recovery from specific illnesses much faster, lowering sudden death risk from mental illnesses.
Thus, most players dump mental illnesses on the Sage and use his achievements or traits to cure them.
"Hm..."
I shook Leventia, but she just whined like a child, clutching her doll tightly, smiling happily and mumbling to herself.
Yeah. Guess I'll have to do it myself.
I recalled the most efficient of the three methods and was about to ask the troubled knight for help in executing it.
-Thud thud!!
That's when it happened. The door opened with a somewhat rough knock.
In came Veronica and Cecil.
"As expected..."
Spotting me in front of Leventia, Veronica strode in and grabbed my arm.
"What are you planning?"
"Huh? To treat her."
"...Why you?"
Cecil gave a slight glance to the knight beside her. At the signal, the knight left, and Cecil closed the door, crossing her arms calmly.
"You're going to save even Leventia?"
"Save? Just treating her."
"Your treatment might be salvation to someone."
Realizing her tone was sharp, Cecil clamped her mouth shut and lowered her head.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to say it like that."
Jeez, getting worked up over nothing.
"Look, I know it's weird hearing this from someone you saved. But aren't you overworking yourself?"
I shook my head—it wasn't that bad—but Veronica's grip on my arm tightened.
"We'll leave Leventia's treatment to the church. You don't need to push yourself."
"Yeah. It must be hard even looking at her face—how do you plan to treat her? And right now, Leventia is..."
Cecil glanced at Leventia. The knight who had fought the Demon King now clutched a doll instead of her sword.
And around her lower abdomen was a pristine adult diaper.
Veronica, already grasping the situation, declared.
"It's infantile regression, right? Even the church would take at least half a year to treat that mental illness."
"Even with treatment potions, it'd take at least three months. Infantile regression is a high-grade one. And the cost isn't cheap."
"Oh. Archduke Cecil. You know a bit about alchemy?"
"I studied it to lift my dragon's curse. Though it was pointless in the end."
Veronica and Cecil.
Both were reluctant about me treating Leventia and Evangeline.
I appreciated the concern, but
Both methods took way too much time.
Why choose inefficient options when there's an easy, quick fix?
"I'm going to absorb her mental illness. Two days will be enough."
I checked my achievement window.
Among the achievements from my adventurer days, there's one related to infantile regression, so even if I get it, it'll auto-clear in 48 hours.
"No... wait. Absorb? How... No, more importantly, why you?"
"Because it's the most efficient?"
Veronica and Cecil looked reluctant.
They both hated the idea, but no choice.
"Sigh... You're so damn stubborn... Fine. But I can't let you do it alone. What can I help with?"
"No need. I'll ask Sixman and Sairon."
"Them...? Why?"
"I said I'm absorbing the mental illness. I had infantile regression before..."
"When?"
"During my adventurer days."
It was when I took a request from parents agonizing over not having children for years.
No one at the guild took it—it kept getting pushed back until I found it.
On the way south, I met Sixman and Sairon, and we went to Hariti's temple, where I got infantile regression.
"Hariti... the goddess of childcare and fertility? I heard it's a fallen religion now."
"Fallen? There are still believers in the south, albeit few. Anyway, that's where it happened."
In the game, going there gives the infantile regression treatment recipe, pregnancy potion, and Hariti's Blessing, which recovers 'child'-related mental illnesses in two days.
"The high priestess of Hariti and those guys helped me back then."
"I-I see."
"Anyway, I need someone to look after me like that time. In simple terms, someone to play mommy."
Two days and Hariti's Blessing will sort it out anyway.
But I need someone to restrain and watch me during the process, since I don't know what I'll do.
"Huh? M-Mommy?"
"Yeah."
"...Mommy..."
"...Gulp."
"It's just the term—it's tough work. Anyway, time is gold. Friends. I'm off to call Sixman and Sairon first."
"Huh? Ah, no. If it's that... why them?"
"Hm... With infantile regression, I lose self-control. Better if they've done the hard part before, right?"
"I-If it's that, I could do it too..."
"...Of course, I've never raised a kid. But... I could be a great mom. Probably."
Veronica and Cecil blushed, and I shook my head at them.
It's probably a different genre from what you think.
Quite a bit different.
Author's Note (Afterword)
Huge thanks to Ryu So-hyun for the support!
Hello! It's Malmulmalmul!
Hope you're all burning bright this fun Saturday! ㅎㅎ
Nothing much to say today.
Enjoy, and see you tomorrow. Bye~