Chapter 303: Chapter 267: Skip (2)

The world wouldn’t always move in the way I planned, I knew this fact well enough already.

After all, I’ve experienced this over and over again. If anything, there were more cases where everything derailed from what I expected than not.

That was why…

The current situation was just so bewildering to me.

[ Entering Chapter 5 Branching Route: ‘Skip’. ]

[ Once you make the right decision, the Main Quest, ‘Empire’s Great Turmoil’ will be skipped and you will immediately enter the boss battle! ]

“…”

I stared at the window before my eyes with a bewildered expression.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

This window suddenly popped out when I was brushing my teeth right after I woke up.

…What the fuck?

Instead of feeling happy, I was just confused.

A ‘pleasant miscalculation’ was the rarest variable I had ever experienced in my life.

I mean, sure, things like this could happen, I guess, but…

Wasn’t the reward too big…?

Like, skipping a whole Main Quest? Damn…

Didn’t this mean I won’t have to struggle through a whole quest…?

How could such a good thing be possible?

[ Due to the influence of target ‘Astrid Rogos Campbell’, a great variable to the progress of the scenario is detected! ]

“…”

Seeing the window that followed after, I immediately narrowed my eyes.

[What’s wrong?]

“…That person…my mother…seems to have pulled out some tricks behind my back…”

[Tricks?]

“It’s helpful, but I don’t really have a good impression of her, so…”

Hearing me saying so while rinsing my mouth, Caliban replied with a dumbfounded voice.

[…Putting aside how the hell did you find out about that… If it helped you in any way, you shouldn’t criticize her, no? Also…]

“What?”

He was talking in an odd way, and I replied with somewhat an edge in my voice.

[I’ve been thinking about this, but do you really need to go this far?]

He said in a careful, yet firm tone of voice.

[You haven’t  even talked to her at all, no?]

“…”

[You know, refusing to communicate with such a desperate person, no matter how bad her impression on you is, isn’t normal. It’s not like you. While, yes, people call you trashy and all, but you’re not the kind of person who’d disregard human relationships like this.]

“…”

[How should I put this—it’s as if you seem to feel repulsed by the fact that she’s your ‘mother’. Did something bad happen in the past?]

When he said that…

“…”

For a moment there, a series of scenes flashed in my mind.

Gunshots, a dead body, cries, blood, hands with blood all over them, a song…

And…the end of love…

“…Let’s stop talking about useless things.”

I replied expressionlessly…

While pressing my temples, shaking off the old memories that came into my mind.

Those were my memories back before I even came to Sera. Honestly, I didn’t have the lenience to think about something like this when I had so many things to do.

“We need to keep our guards up, it isn’t like we don’t have anything else to worry about.”

If the Empire’s Great Turmoil was skipped, that meant things went as I had intended. The ‘war’ wouldn’t happen at all, which was good.

But, that left us to deal with the biggest problem…

…The thing that bothers me the most…

Skipping the Main Quest aside, the ‘boss battles’ still remained.

I still had to deal with Count Nicholas—who pissed me off just by thinking about him—and the ‘Final Boss’ of Chapter 5.

…The sooner I reconcile Seras and Victoria, the better.

In any case, I’d need to deal with that the moment I was done with my business in Count Ravel’s territory.

That way, I’d finally be able to sow my seeds—

[…Dude.]

“Pardon?”

[By sowing your seeds, is it what I’m thinking it is?]

“…Uh, maybe?”

[…]

“Look, it isn’t like I have any choice—”

Before I could say that it was the best thing I could do to clear the chapter, Caliban cut me off with a tone that suggested that this was none of his business.

[Do whatever. You’ve already made up your mind anyway. Whatever it is that I’m saying, you won’t listen to it.]

“…”

[Just…uh…you know…? Make me faint or something when you actually do it…]

He continued resignedly to me, as I became speechless.

[You know, that woman…Victoria…uh… I know she’s an adult, but seeing her body type…uh…the guilt—]

“…What the fuck are you—”

“Dowd Campbell!”

Before I could finish my words, I almost choked on the water in my mouth because Victoria slammed the door open.

Seeing me throwing up the rinsing water in my mouth, Victoria stared at me with a puzzled gaze.

“…What? What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Speak of the devil…

If I actually told her about what I was talking about with Caliban, this punk would’ve actually cut me into sashimi with her sword, considering her personality.

“Anyway, why are you here so early in the morning?”

“…You need to go to Count Ravel’s palace. Right now.”

She said with a sigh, as if she was also flabbergasted by the situation.

“I don’t know what the heck is happening, but I know that it’s all because of you.”

“…”

What?

What do you mean?

The fuck?

●

“…How much do you want?”

Eleanor asked with a serious look.

The one she asked that question to was Faenol, who had a horn emerge slightly on her forehead with flames covering her body.

Anyone could clearly tell that this was the manifestation of her Devil’s power.

However, it seemed like she was still ‘rational’ compared to back when she created a huge column of fire and went berserk.

…She seems to be getting used to it.

Eleanor thought while sighing inwardly.

Well…

Just like how Yuria’s skill in swordsmanship had been getting better, Faenol was also becoming better at handling her Devil’s power.

It strangely felt as if the ‘growth’ of the Devil’s Vessels around Dowd had been accelerated recently.

“…”

Eleanor silently looked down at her chest.

To be exact, she was trying to look at the existence ‘inside’ her chest. Before she could get lost in her thoughts though, Faenol gave her reply.

“Oh my, I don’t think this is something that could be bought by money.”

“…”

A frown quickly appeared on Eleanor’s face, showing her displeasure.

“…Surely you don’t doubt the Tristan Duchal House’s wealth?”

“It’s the most noble household in the empire, so of course I don’t.”

What they were talking about was something that would get them to be scolded by Dowd if he were to see it.

It was Dowd’s baby picture—the same one as the one that Professor Astrid had shown them the other day—printed physically by Faenol..

When she first saw it, Eleanor’s eyes slowly turned bloodshot.

While yes, she had crammed the picture into the deepest part of her memory the moment she saw it, storing it in this way as an ‘item’ was a whole different matter entirely.

Just like an obsessed fan of a celebrity, her voice began to tremble in zealousness.

“…Then, why are you refusing my offer?”

“Because I need to value it fairly. It’s a picture of Mr. Dowd, it’s not something you can just buy with money.”

Seeing Faenol stating such a thing in a serious tone, Eleanor’s body turned tense.

She’s going this far, what is it that she’s going to ask me?

And sure enough, the next thing that Faenol said hit her hard, befitting such a buildup.

“You also have these things too, don’t you, Student Council President? Your ‘collection’.”

“

Eleanor immediately let out a groan.

What Faenol was talking about was her ‘Dowd Collection’, the thing she had been collecting while enduring Beatrix’s nagging, ‘Does everyone in your house know you have been doing this?’…

Headmistress Atalante’s scolding, ‘I keep getting reports that you’ve been sneaking into places you shouldn’t! Stop it!’…

And Iliya’s nonsense, ‘Share it to me if you got anything good’ from time to time.

It was her personal treasure, a collection of only the coolest moments of him that she wanted to keep in her memory.

…Well, if one were to stop sugarcoating it, it was just a collection of Dowd’s pictures that she took secretly when she was stalking him.

Actually, every time she took and collected a picture of him, an imaginary mini Beatrix appeared next to her ear and snapped, ‘That’s a crime! I said that’s a crime, you crazy bitch!’. However, at this point, she was able to ruthlessly ignore that imaginary existence’s lectures.

“…Fine. I’ll pick up a worthy one for you and send it to you.”

“Alright. Deal—”

The moment the two people were about to reach an agreement both were satisfied with, a scream was heard nearby.

“Y-You! Do you all even know who I am—!”

“…”

“…”

Ah.

Right, ‘that thing’ is still here.

As if the same thing popped up in their minds, Eleanor and Faenol turned their glances at Count Ravel, who was hanging upside down from the top of the rampart, only wearing his underwear.

“…We should have done it a little more harshly. Seeing that he still has the energy to talk, it means he hasn’t reflected on himself enough.”

Faenol said with a snort.

Her eyes were shining red, making it seem as if she was actually about to go through with her words, but Eleanor stopped her with a bitter smile.

“No. You’d erase the entire Raven Comital from the map if you do.”

Eleanor wasn’t joking when she said that. When the Ravel Comital’s soldiers—who were lying on the ground while moaning in pain—heard their conversation, their whole body stiffened and trembled.

It wasn’t a strange thing that they reacted that way. All of them had seen all kinds of bizarre things happening—the rampart being sliced, the entire sky being burned out, chunks of metals being torn apart with bare hands—without even leaving them time to use the equipment they brought from the Magic Tower.

They had seen how these women ‘invaded’ the count’s territory and turned the entire palace, even the main palace, into a wasteland in just less than half a day.

And after they did that, they rambled on about a man called Dowd or whatever.

…About that…

One of the soldiers had a thought…

I kinda…envy him…

He wondered what kind of life the man had with these amazing women willingly taking care of him.

But then he realized that affection was like a double-edged sword. The deeper one fell in love with someone, the more terrifying the heartbreak they’d experience.

And if he were to live with all these women, and one day managed to ‘disappoint’ them…

“…”

The person who had such thoughts trembled.

He changed his mind, he didn’t want to go through something like that at all.

And as he was having such thoughts…

“…What the fuck is this?”

The man of the moment was trudging into the count’s palace.