NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81
The appearance of the Princess turned the Jibchak Family upside down.
Naturally, they never expected someone of her stature would come to a mere count’s residence.
Trash, the family head, might have found some excuse to lure her into the reception room, but unfortunately, he was absent.
In the end, there was no one to block her entrance, so Seria and Alkiné quickly moved toward the raucous scene.
And… that’s how we ended up in the current situation.
“Trash Jibchak. I’ll give you a chance to defend yourself, so say something.”
“…I have nothing.”
Our Princess wrapped up the incident in an instant, completely roasting Trash.
Of course, Trash hadn’t been this docile from the start. Initially, he blabbed all kinds of excuses to escape the situation…
“…Rudion. Could you hand that over to me?”
“This?”
“Yeah, just for a moment.”
Seria suddenly took the Forbidden Book related to mental conditioning and glanced through it before turning completely obedient.
Is this the power of subjugation? Mental conditioning must fall under the category of force, right?
“Just take it back. Ah, since it’s dangerous, I think you should keep it in your inventory.”
Following Seria’s words, I put the Forbidden Book away.
By the way, Seria… what are you planning to do by learning that…?
What she was thinking was always puzzling, but now I found a way to know the answer.
Search!
Sneaking a peek at her thoughts felt a bit guilty, but really, Seria had it coming for her strange antics.
As I rationalized myself while stealing a glance at her thoughts…
[She wishes to clarify that she barely understood half of the content of the Forbidden Book.]
…Was that a bluff?
Somehow, I expected Seria could glance at the Forbidden Book and whip something up, but it seemed it was unexpectedly not the case.
But… putting that aside.
Did I not just misread?
I checked the ability stats I had initially brushed off.
[Seria Rubetia]
[Strength: 5]
[Toughness: 3]
[Agility: 6]
[Magical Power: 101]
[Traits: Magical Genius (Partitioned Operation, Magic Analysis, Magic Acceleration, Inverse Calculation Automation, Magic Amplification), Concept Manifestation (Ether Manipulation, Energy Component Fusion), Kairos [sealed]]
Those numbers were exceptionally unusual.
Why is her magical power like this? She’s already surpassed 100?
What’s with all these traits? What’s ‘Concept Manifestation’ and what’s ‘Kairos’?
It was quite confusing to have so many unknowns pop up. Of course, since it was Seria, I thought she’d manage just fine, so I wasn’t particularly worried.
I thought she was growing fast, but I never thought it would be to this extent.
Just as I could not stop my astonishment, something suddenly struck me.
[Searching for additional information related to the traits.]
What is this additional information?
Despite the continuous emergence of unknown variables, I didn’t really expect anything from it.
No matter how impressive it might be, would it surpass Seria’s growth?
The thoughts I casually read as additional information… was enough to fluster me.
[Affection Level: 59/100]
…Pardon? What’s the affection level now?
“What is it, Rudion? Why are you suddenly staring at me like that?”
“Nothing, just nothing.”
“That’s not a ‘nothing’ face. I’ll ask you again later.”
…It felt like I’d seen something I wasn’t supposed to see. I hurriedly closed the window that popped up, but what I saw was already engraved in my memory.
Seria, noticing my fluster, seemed curious about what I should say next.
59? That’s pretty much at the brink of being on the final route.
There was no dating system in-game, but there were definitely elements in the story that deepened according to the affection levels.
A level of 10 meant a close friend—someone you’d lend cherished items to as long as they had a good enough reason.
From level 20 onward, they’d agree to nearly any reasonable request without a question.
Once it hit 40, they became indispensable to each other, ready to sacrifice themselves for one another without hesitation.
And… at level 60, that’s when you could start to understand why people were upset about the lack of a romance system. From that point, you could view them as affectionate lovers, or something even more.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know what happened beyond that. In a game without romance, there was nothing more to it.
Achieving 100 just netted you a reward, that was all.
At this point, there’s little distance left to cover, if I were to be honest.
However, right now, Seria’s affection level was 59.
Just one notch shy of 60.
Considering the time we had spent together and how I felt during that time, I thought it would be around 20 to 30 at most.
Why was it so high? And what surprised me even more was that she hadn’t shown it openly.
How was I supposed to react to the profound affection she had that exceeded my expectations?
For now, I’ll pretend I didn’t see…
But soon enough, I’d have to explain this item I stole, so it wouldn’t take long for it to be uncovered.
Sure, I could hide it… but hiding something like this didn’t seem beneficial.
I seriously didn’t know what to say. I felt both grateful and guilty at the same time.
…Wait. What about Alkiné then?
Suddenly, I noticed Alkiné sitting next to Seria and observing the situation.
She had just confessed her feelings yesterday. Perhaps she had an affection level too.
Thinking that, I decided to use the search on Alkiné, and fortunately, her stats were within normal range.
[Alkiné Devaran]
[Strength: 72]
[Toughness: 32]
[Agility: 68]
[Magical Power: 76]
[Traits: Sword Master [partially unlocked], Human Tank (Strength Amplification, Steel Toughness, Master of Balance, Superhuman Endurance), Outstanding Handiness]
[She followed you to help, but ends up feeling embarrassed for not having anything to do.]
[Affection Level: 18/100]
Compared to this, my stats feel pathetic.
I hadn’t seen anything and thought whatever, but now that it was in front of me, I couldn’t help but compare.
Anyway, her stats were quite impressive, but they didn’t stray far from what I remembered, plus the traits were ones I recognized.
And her affection level was normal… No, it was abnormal since it was seen now.
Seriously, how have I worked so hard to win them over?
Did I… steal the wrong bracelet?
It felt good to steal it back then, but now that I knew information I didn’t want to know, I regretted it. Was this what they called the red pill or something?
It seems if you do something wrong, you get punished. I just never thought it would be like this.
“What’s with her suddenly?”
“I don’t know either.”
Seria’s and Alkiné’s gazes felt heavier all of a sudden.
///
The matter regarding the Jibchak Family’s punishment was concluded by entrusting full authority to the Central Guard.
The Central Guard is almost directly connected to the royal palace, so since the princess personally handed it over, there was no need to worry about any corruption.
Thus, I planned to trust them with all the Forbidden Books brought from the Jibchak Family…
“…We don’t have the bandwidth to manage this on our end. I’m sorry, but could you handle everything besides the most important one?”
So, that was that. Well, it was a busy place, and receiving so many Forbidden Books at once wouldn’t be practical.
Ultimately, except for the book related to mental conditioning, the rest was stuffed back into a corner of my inventory.
“So, I’m just curious now. How big is that pocket space? It seems you’ve put quite a bit in there.”
After putting nearly twenty Forbidden Books back into the inventory, Seria asked that question.
The size of the inventory? I hadn’t really thought about it.
I was just using the same sense I used in the game. In-game, it was essentially infinite.
Mentioning that caused quite a ruckus, as one could imagine.
After a brief commotion, once Seria and Alkiné had entrusted their luggage to my inventory, my stomach began to grumble.
It had taken a while to hand over everything after being dragged in before breakfast, causing us to miss lunch altogether.
“It’s a bit awkward timing, but should we eat something before heading back?”
“I’m fine with that.”
“I’m cool too.”
I casually suggested, and Seria and Alkiné readily accepted, perhaps also feeling hungry.
But what do we do now? The restaurant they headed towards was the one where the “Great Meal Operation of the Empire that Brings a Storm” had recently unfolded.
Were we about to hear the cries of the manager and staff once again?
“There are so many people here!”
“Was it always this crowded?”
“While this place is popular, it’s not usually like this.”
…For some reason, there seemed to be more than just the usual crowd. There was a line.
Why were there so many people at such an awkward time to eat lunch?
With that question in mind, I decided to sneak a peek at the thoughts of the most excited person in line.
[They’re thrilled at the prospect of dining at the place praised by the Princess and the Saintess.]
I immediately understood.
After all, when the Saintess visited that day, there had been so many people around. It would be odd if the rumors didn’t spread.
“Seria, this is your fault.”
“What? Me?”
“More precisely, it’s because of you and Lilith.”
“…Oh, I see.”
Upon hearing that, Seria seemed to get it, awkwardly glancing at Alkiné.
Seeing that, Alkiné raised an eyebrow in response. I simply explained the situation, which led her to give Seria a look of incredulity.
“Seria, have you ever thought about the fact that as a Princess, you shouldn’t roam around with your face uncovered?”
“But Rudion says I’m pretty, so why should I hide my face?”
“…You really talk about yourself like that in front of me.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
…Such comments don’t even sound like jokes anymore.
Thinking about it, she used to say these kinds of things often. I might’ve just brushed them off too lightly, thinking she was joking.
As I was stuck in serious thought, Seria and Alkiné quickly started looking for alternatives.
“It seems unwise to eat here, so let’s go somewhere else.”
“Agreed. We can always come back here later.”
“Do you know any good places nearby?”
“There are a few over there. Let’s check them out.”
Of course, they could probably get in without an issue by using Seria’s status as a princess, but there’s no way they’d think of doing something like that.
Ultimately, the sequel to the Great Meal Operation of the Empire never got released, and instead, a spin-off from another establishment made its debut.
The outing ended with Alkiné looking bewildered at Seria, who still hadn’t hidden her face.
As a side note… upon returning to the academy, I had a one-on-one meeting with the president, and I ended up receiving a final warning.
“Didn’t I clearly say that I could resist?”
The reason was unauthorized absence.