Late at night. After getting ready for bed, I rolled around on the large bed and started blaming myself.
“It’s ruined…”
At the time, she thought it was something she could never bear, but when she finally finished it, she felt more uncomfortable than relieved.
‘What did you do to the person with the least likeability!’
Surely there wasn’t a minus or something like that? Oh, no way. The system also had a conscience. No, was there no conscience because it was a system? She couldn’t have been that anxious about not checking Evan’s likeability at the end. But the water had already been spilled. Now, even if she asked Evan for forgiveness for being too harsh, nothing would change.
“It’s not exactly wrong!”
She jumped up in anger again. But soon she became soggy and buried her face in the bed.
“No, it was careless…”
Since she didn’t know who the male lead was, she needed to raise her likeability level to 80%… Ugh. It was a time when she was digging a tunnel and shaking her feet out of guilt.
Talk.
A small sound of something splashing was heard from the closed window. She turned her head, but there was no one outside the window. Did she hear it wrong? As she was about to turn her head again, she heard an unidentifiable sound again. Startled, she shrugged her shoulders and put on the coat she had left nearby. He slowly moved towards the balcony like a cat. As she opened the door, a cool breeze rushed into the room. She looked around the balcony on both sides, being very alert, but there was nothing.
‘What?’
She tilted her head and was about to go back into the room, when suddenly she heard a small sound from below.
“Ella.”
She was startled and looked down the railing.
“Kai!”
When she greeted him loudly, he urgently put his index finger to his lips. When she nodded as if she understood, Kai motioned for her to step back. She obediently took a step back as he said. It was the moment she pressed against the window. Surprisingly, he floated up and reached the height of the balcony in one go.
“W-what is it?”
When she looked closely, she saw that the mysterious light she had seen when she treated Kai was wrapped around Kai’s feet. The light glowed fainter than last time and brought Kai safely inside the balcony. She asked in a curious voice as she watched the light disappearing like a mirage around his ankles.
“Do you know how to do something like this?”
“Anyone who knows how to use magic can do this arrangement.”
“Well, then you’re just flying around?”
“That’s something only archmages do. I can only overcome obstacles.”
The height of the 3rd floor of the building is probably not high enough to overcome the obstacle… It was at that time that she, not wanting to argue, obediently nodded and tried to look elsewhere. A green letter that she could never ignore caught her eye. That… what?
“What’s the matter?”
She couldn’t help but gape as she properly checked the favorability rating on the top of his head.
“You…!”
[Kai Twilley: Likeability 20%]
‘Your likability hasn’t changed at all, right?!’
Even Louise, who was ticking! That cold-blooded Evando! It all went up! She heard he was a close friend! He even did the treatment himself!
“You… I guess you weren’t worried about me?”
Without realizing it, a slightly sarcastic comment came out. It was a narrow-minded interrogation, but Kai, who was clueless, didn’t care and smiled softly.
“Why are you worried? Who treated it?”
“Ah, okay?”
…Are you sure? There was zero possibility of male lead. At 20%, there wasn’t much difference from Louise anymore, right? She thought it was a huge favorability figure, but now she saw that 20% was nothing!
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is it because you’re so thankful?” he asked, his silky turquoise hair flowing. Although he was breathtakingly beautiful, his refreshing smile no longer meant anything to her.
“Nothing.”
‘Now we’re friends forever, you bastard.’
* * *
The central temple of the island. Archbishop Berger was walking gracefully without making a single sound. Wherever Berger walked, the priests who paved the way showed respect to him. In the Ruman Empire, temples were highly trusted by the people. Although he was not on good terms with the emperor or the dukes, Shinjeon won the public’s support by showing off his nobility and never bowing his head to them. Because of its nobility, there were people, not only common people but also nobles, who stood on the side of the temple to avoid the eyes of the oppressive emperor. Thanks to this, the archbishop’s position was also solid. Even with a generous smile on their face, the priests’ heads naturally bowed. It was easy for him to win the favor of the Pope by praying sincerely. Thanks to good image management, Berger was able to easily take on the role of archbishop, and this period has already been four years. At this rate, he had no problem even becoming a cardinal. There was no problem…
He came the year he was elected archbishop. Teodoro Wilseton, a child of God.
‘If it weren’t for that bastard, he wouldn’t have had to be in such a hurry…’
He became archbishop alongside Berger at the age of only fifteen. Four years had passed, and he was now a full-fledged 19-year-old adult, but considering Berger’s age, which was soon to be 40, the younger guy was twice as old.
‘The child given by God, damn it…’
Berger put on his white robe and pursed his lips. Theodore not only possessed tremendous divine power that could not be measured in the temple, but his occasional prophecies also came true. There has been no case of an oracle being passed down yet, but if he continues like this, the day he hears an oracle, Berger will not even have a place to stand. Next year, the Pope would appoint a cardinal. If it weren’t for Theodore, the position of cardinal would have undoubtedly gone to Berger, but it was dangerous as it was. Berger looked for ‘incidents’ that could raise his status. If his innate vessel of divine power was different, he had to establish himself in other ways. But just then, Berger discovered ‘it’.
“Uh?”
Just in time, an ‘incident’ that caught the Pope’s attention unfolded in front of Berger, who was struggling with his dilemma.
“Why is that…!”
What Berger discovered was Luganet, enshrined in the vault room of the central temple.
Luganet originally had a burning orange light, like the sunset just falling over the mountain ridge. However, the light of Luganet, which was supposed to be so bright that it was blinding, turned into a dull stone overnight. Berger raised his eyes in surprise and then raised the corners of his mouth evilly.
‘As expected, God is on my side.’
Although it was a shame for the entire temple that Luganet lost its luster, it was an opportunity for Berger. Berger was one of the people who knew where Luganet’s light was connected. Berger’s expression changed in an instant as he made a plan to establish his status in his head.
“Who is guarding the safe?”
Because Berger did not usually make loud noises, priests wearing black robes rushed into the vault room in a huff.
“Archbishop! Why are you doing this?”
“Didn’t you see this!”
Berger raised her eyes fearfully and pointed with her eyes at the Luganette contained within her glass tube. The faces of the priests turned pale when they discovered Luganet, which was gray in color as if it would crumble at any moment.
“Why is this…”
‘Well, with this, we secured a witness.’
Berger did not stop there and shouted.
“Luga has lost her light!”
His shout, filled with divine power, echoed throughout the temple’s corridors.
“As soon as the sun rises, put the flue in the imperial palace! I need to see Luganet’s child!”
* * *
From early in the morning, she was standing alone with Louise facing each other in the middle of the training ground. My clothes were already soaked with sweat.
“Again.”
“Hiyat!”
Every time she swung her wooden sword, her tightly tied hair swayed like a horse’s tail. Louise didn’t skimp on her training just because she felt sorry for me. That was Louise’s pride as a swordsman, and I also liked Louise’s training method. After all, it was a good thing she chose Louise as her teacher (even though she had a mission).
“Again!”
However, contrary to his will, his body did not comply. It was the 10,000th time that he swung his wooden sword as Louise told him to, but Louise kept making the same movements, saying his posture had not improved. Ah, this looked easy when she saw it on YouTube.
‘Strength in your hands…’
His hand holding his wooden sword seemed to go numb. Because he was swinging too hard in the same direction, his arm muscles started to tingle, and his movements gradually became sluggish. The wooden sword, which felt light at first, was heavy, as if a few more sandbags had been added to it.
“Are you tired already?”
The posture that Louise first taught me was not improving, but was becoming more and more messed up. Every time she lost her posture, Louise struck her shoulder and elbow area with a wooden sword. Every time she did that, she almost lost the wooden sword, but she bit her lip and held on.
“…I’m not tired.”
When she first said she wanted to learn swordsmanship, Chase stopped her, asking why she wanted to take the risk of learning swordsmanship, but no parent can beat their child.
When she insisted that she be recognized as a proud daughter of the Clemend family, just as she had been with Louise, Chase allowed me to learn swordsmanship over and over again. But, funny enough, even though she started practicing with great momentum, she ended up dropping her wooden sword after three hours.
Widely!
She stared at the wooden sword lying miserably on the floor with an incredulous expression. It’s over in three hours? She was a fan of kendo, fencing, and medieval swordsmanship?! The fandom ends here?!
“Tsk tsk. It’s done.”
She got angry at Louise’s words and grabbed the fallen wooden sword in my hand. No, she tried to hold it.
Widely!
No matter how hard she tried to hold the wooden sword again, her hand wouldn’t listen. She looked down at her blistered hands. There were small blisters here and there, and fluid was flowing out. Her red, swollen hands were trembling as if they had reached their limit, and she had no strength in her grip at all.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
“I can do more!”
With all her might, she held the wooden sword back in her hand. As soon as he did that, his grip loosened and the wooden sword plummeted to the floor. Her legs suddenly lost strength and she collapsed to the floor. Louise clicked her tongue as if she wasn’t surprised.
“It’s not something you can do just by being motivated. You have to train according to your physical strength. Your body is very weak now.”
A subtle worry was evident in Louise’s blunt tone. She looked down at her bruised palm and asked Louise softly.
“Then how long does it take to use swordsmanship like Louise?”
“What?”
“I want to learn quickly. If… Because I don’t know.”
“By any chance you don’t know?”
Louise asked, not understanding her impatience, but she didn’t say anything to her. Because she couldn’t say what the deadline was given by the system. Although the system gave her a year, it was unclear whether she would be able to properly find all the male leads. She didn’t even know what the mission penalty was. She didn’t think it’s a penalty that requires risking one’s life, but in this world, there was no disease and risking one’s life was no different from the previous life.
‘If this isn’t a terminal condition, what is it?’
It may have been a hopeless situation, but fortunately I knew how to live one day without tomorrow. That was to do the best she could today. As if today was the last day.
“I understand your desire to become stronger quickly. Hoping for a fluke in a short period of time without effort is unqualified to be a prosecutor. If you really want to become a swordsman worthy of the Clemend family, develop your physical strength first.”
It wasn’t wrong. Louise, with her sarcastic attitude, slowly left the gym. She looked at his back and gritted her molars.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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