“Brother, there’s a woman standing outside, staring blankly.”
Elena widened her eyes and tilted her head in curiosity.
Does she not know Sharon?
Well, Elena is a diligent priestess of the Numina sect. It seems she spent her life commuting between the sect’s tents, classrooms, and the Student Council after entering the Academy.
She might have heard the name but probably doesn’t recognize the face.
“Could it be that you hired a new staff member? Was this Elena not good enough to win Brother Ian’s favor?!”
“She’s not a new staff member.”
“Then who is she?”
“Sharon Pierce.”
“Hiiek-!”
Elena let out a strange scream and covered her mouth with her hand.
She is indeed a child with rich expressions.
“Sharon Pierce, the brilliant prodigy of the Swordsmanship Club! Why is such a person kneeling in front of your door, Brother?”
Is she really kneeling?
Whatever it is, it’s not my concern.
“Who knows.”
“I can hear her muttering something… Brother, you seem particularly cold today.”
“I’ve always been cold.”
“On the outside, yes.”
What’s she talking about?
“Stop babbling and eat this.”
I placed a snowflake tomato in Elena’s mouth.
“Ugh!”
Was it too cold?
Elena shivered and stepped back.
Then her eyes grew wide again.
“This… this is the first time I’ve seen something this big.”
“I specially prepared it.”
“You did this for me…! I’m so touched!”
I’m the one more touched.
She offered to be payed with snowflake fruits instead of money.
I picked out the finest, most luxurious tomatoes from the fruit shop.
“Hurry and swallow it.”
“Wait a moment. It’s so big it hurts my mouth…”
“How can you lick it like that?”
“This size! My small mouth can’t take it all at once!”
For some reason, it suddenly got quiet outside.
She must have given up and left.
Sharon’s prideful knightly spirit probably couldn’t endure such indifference.
While I was momentarily distracted.
“Y-Yes, I have to bite it…!”
“Wait! Don’t bite…!”
Splat—!
Elena caused an accident after all.
She committed the atrocity of biting into the tomato.
Luckily, the tomato juice splattered only on her face.
Come to think of it, this scene looks familiar.
“How can you lick it?”
“Hehe… it’s delicious!”
Licking it just like Danya.
Anyone would believe they’re sisters.
Elena devoured five special snowflake tomatoes.
“Elena. I think you should stop eating.”
Not because I’m regretting the cost.
“No, Brother. I can eat plenty more.”
“But your stomach can’t.”
Elena’s belly was bulging like a tadpole’s.
The same goes for Danya, and since they are slender, it seems like they are immediately revealed on the outside like that.
Moreover, the priestess robe is quite tight, revealing the silhouette well.
Elena kept stroking her belly, making it hard to know where to look.
It’s also difficult to send her out like this.
Unlike with Danya at the external dorm, this is the clubroom.
If there’s an unnecessary witness, it could really be troublesome this time.
“Don’t worry, Brother. For a priestess, v*rgin pregnancy is an honor.”
“Please refrain from saying such things.”
“I’m feeling very good right now. Perhaps if it’s with someone who can make such blessed food as Ian, I might consider marriage.”
“No.”
“It’s fine. Deus will allow such special cases.”
“If you joke like that one more time, no more snowflake tomatoes.”
“Nooo, my baby!”
Despite her enthusiastic shout, Elena looked drowsy.
Her full stomach probably made her feel this way.
How can there be such a degenerate priestess…
Isn’t the future of the Numina sect too dark?
Of course, I feel partly responsible for it.
I shook my head and looked at the degenerate priestess.
She was contentedly stroking her bulging belly.
“Even if Dad’s not around, I’ll raise you well by myself, okay?”
This is driving me crazy.
“…Get some sleep before you go.”
I should probably get a guest bed or something.
◆
“What? You’re still here?”
As I opened the door to see Elena off, Sharon Pierce was still there, kneeling in perfect form.
“Oh…”
Her face was somehow red, and she was staring blankly with unfocused eyes.
Ignoring her, I saw Elena off.
“Elena, go inside now.”
“Yes! Thank you for the meal!”
After confirming that Elena had quietly hurried away, I closed the door again.
‘Her posture is impressively straight.’
Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.
–Ian. Just a moment. No, it won’t be enough, but I’ll try. I’m asking you like this. Please…. Hm? Please…
It was already evening.
Ignoring the noise outside, I sat down at my desk.
On the desk was Number 444, the “Berserker’s Guardian Shield”.
“I think I can use this properly in the promotion match.”
When health is below 10%, damage increases by 1,000%.
A sudden thought crossed my mind: this shield’s special ability might actually be usable.
The problem with this special ability is simple.
Since this isn’t a game but reality, it’s hard to notice when health drops to 10%, and it would definitely be a desperate situation, making it difficult to use.
“But the promotion match will be different.”
In the distant southern part of the Academy, on the isolated island where the promotion match will take place, a ‘health system’ utilizing magitech will be applied.
The professors packaged it simply as the greatness of ‘magitech’, but that’s not entirely true.
The isolated island ‘Volta’, where the promotion match takes place, also has a ‘special field’ with a unique health system in the game.
In other words…
“…This could work.”
The conclusion was that I could use this Berserker’s Shield to activate the health system of the promotion match, not my real ‘life’ health.
If that works, it would strengthen the party’s weakest point: melee damage.
We could cover our biggest weakness.
With a positive conclusion, I looked at the clock.
It was already half-past nine at night.
— I’m sorry. Please give me a chance to apologize. No, please. I beg you. Please. Please.
Sharon’s muttering was still audible from outside.
At some point, her informal speech had changed to formal, and her once firm voice was now broken and faint.
“…It’s almost curfew for the club building.”
Of course, no kids would bother coming to this old magic school building.
Thanks to the Occult Research Club, there were rumors that ghosts haunted this place.
‘But there’s always a possibility.’
I opened the door.
“…I was wrong. I was completely wrong. Ian. Please, just once, give me a chance to ask for forgiveness…”
Sharon’s head was bowed.
She hadn’t noticed me coming out and kept muttering.
Her fists were tightly clenched, as if holding back tears, and had turned red.
Her legs were pale blue from kneeling for so long.
Noticing the light seeping through the crack in the door, Sharon finally looked up.
“I… Ian?”
Her previously crumbled expression lit up with life. It was like seeing someone find an oasis in the desert. I’d never seen Sharon’s face so full of hope before.
“Come in.”
“I… I really can do that…”
“Should I close the door?”
“Oh, no. Thank you.”
Sharon’s tearful face was filled with gratitude.
It was a sight I wasn’t used to.
Even in reality, and in countless events within the game, Sharon had never once cried.
Sharon pressed her hands against the floor to stand up.
No, she tried to stand up.
Thud.
Had she been kneeling for too long?
Sharon toppled forward.
Though she hurriedly got back up, her legs wobbled precariously.
‘Didn’t she reinforce her body with mana?’
She must have at least that much pride.
“Speak briefly.”
At my command, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“Th-thank you.”
“Get to the point.”
“Ah… just a moment.”
(TLN: Lina 2.0 I swear.)
Sharon rummaged through her belongings.
Then she pulled out a stiff A4-sized sheet of paper.
On it, written in elegant script, was its purpose.
[ Oath of Obedience ]
Below that, Sharon had already signed her name.
“Ian. I don’t know if you remember, but we had a bet at the social ball. If you were right, I promised to make this oath to you.”
“I remember.”
Before I even finished speaking, Sharon knelt before me.
“No atonement of mine seems sufficient. I want to show my resolve this way. Please, let me make this oath.”
The Oath of Obedience.
A kind of black magic that binds one’s soul to another.
If she makes this oath, Sharon will literally follow my every command.
There was only one reason I requested this as the bet’s reward.
‘It’s a symbol of humiliation.’
To make this oath, one must kneel and bow their proud head to the other person.
I never thought Sharon could do it.
Her personality wouldn’t allow it.
She would rather die.
To provoke that Sharon.
I simply chose the Oath of Obedience as that means.
However.
Sharon took a step back and knelt. Then she bowed her head.
Until her smooth forehead touched the floor.
Since Sharon didn’t move far back, it looked like she was bowing right at my feet.
Sharon Pierce, crouched and prostrated, looked incredibly small.
“Please… give me a chance. My Lord.”
My Lord?
Does she think the Oath of Obedience is like a knight’s oath to a lord?
“Since when does an Oath of Obedience have to be done with clothes on?”
Flinch.
Sharon’s shoulders trembled.
She spoke, still lying down.
“I-I will take them off.”
“No. It’s not necessary.”
I had no intention of making the Oath of Obedience.
Who knows what side effects might come from binding our souls?
At my firm words, Sharon hurriedly lifted her face.
Was my expression too indifferent?
Perhaps this oath was the only hope she found after much deliberation.
Sharon raised her head pleadingly.
“I may be weak, but I can support you with my swordsmanship. I heard there’s a promotion match. Please, let me be by your side. Just give me one chance… just one.”
A chance.
Sharon would indeed be a valuable asset. Having learned the Snowflake Sword, her swordsmanship must have reached a high level. I know her capabilities better than anyone. Even so.
It’s too late.
“I’m sorry.”
Sharon’s eyes twisted in pain as I continued.
“It looks like there won’t be a place for you.”
Her face showed nothing but despair.
