“Oh, Aslan! When you called my name at the end of your presentation… It was a bit embarrassing, but thank you…”
“Hehehe! I didn’t really understand what was going on, but it was fun anyway!”
As soon as Aslan stepped out of the conference hall, the children eagerly rushed over to him, each sharing their impressions.
Charlotte’s reaction made it seem like she had just watched a magic show…
Well, whatever.
Even those so-called great scholars didn’t react much differently.
In the end, Aslan decided to just think of the whole thing as a Black Magic performance and move on.
“Um… Count…”
“…?”
From behind him, Yuri hesitated, fidgeting nervously.
Did she have something to say?
When Aslan stepped closer, she finally seemed to gather some confidence, clenching her fists and looking up at him.
“After seeing this, I’ve made up my mind. I want to become a Necromancer. Would you be willing to help me…?”
“No.”
“Thank yo—huh?”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ is scolding you, asking why you’re being so cruel to our healer.]
Before Aslan even had time to process Yuri’s bombshell statement, he reflexively rejected it.
No way. Becoming a Necromancer?
That was absolutely out of the question.
How could a Hero’s job be Necromancer?
This wasn’t just messing up the storyline—it was world-breaking.
It was an utterly unacceptable skill tree.
Right now, his relationship with the Evil Gods like Kali and Laura wasn’t particularly hostile.
But if this world had a Final Boss, there was a strong chance it would be one of the Evil Gods.
And if Yuri, the one meant to stop that crisis, ended up as a Necromancer, possessed by an Evil God…
Then the world would be doomed.
“Why not?”
“You don’t need to know the reason. If you really want to become a Necromancer, do it after your contract with Vermont Security expires. But if you take that path, you will have to sever all ties with me and the entire Vermont family.”
“Ah, got it! I won’t become a Necromancer. I won’t bring it up again…”
Aslan’s stern warning made Yuri immediately back down.
She had only half-jokingly brought it up, not expecting such a serious reaction.
Did he really hate the idea of her becoming a Necromancer that much?
Maybe he just didn’t want another powerful Necromancer in the world besides himself?
‘No… Aslan Vermont wouldn’t reject it for that kind of reason…’
Yuri pouted slightly, feeling a little hurt.
But considering everything she knew about Aslan Vermont, she concluded that this was likely his way of protecting her.
Still, did he really have to say it so coldly?
It was easy to guess that it was a difficult reason to explain.
Looking back, she would probably realize later that Aslan Vermont had made the right choice.
But… even so, she couldn’t help feeling a little sad.
‘This reminds me of Mr. Black…’
Acting indifferent.
Pretending to be cold.
Acting like he didn’t care.
But looking back later, she would realize that he had actually done a lot for her.
They seemed like complete opposites, yet…
Yuri found it interesting how similar Aslan Vermont and Mr. Black were in that regard.
“Huhuhu. Count Vermont, that was quite an impressive presentation.”
“Thank you, Lady.”
“Merilda! Did you actually understand all of that!?”
“O-Of course! I am currently studying barrier magic. Naturally, I understood everything in Count Vermont’s presentation and paper.”
“That’s amazing…!”
Merilda approached with a proud expression.
Charlotte gaped in admiration.
She had assumed only Julia and Yuri could comprehend something so complicated…
But Merilda understood it too!?
Was she the only idiot here?
A sudden wave of panic washed over her.
“Then, can you teach me? What exactly is this Anti-Mana thing? And how does it relate to magic? Huh? Huh?”
“H-Hmm! I’ll explain it to you later! It would take quite some time to go through everything!”
“Okay! I’ll come to your villa tomorrow!”
“U-Uh… I don’t think I’ll be at the villa! I’m planning to return to Ester soon!”
“Then I’ll come to Ester!”
“…Ah.”
Charlotte kept pressing eagerly.
Merilda, covering her mouth with a fan, replied in a trembling voice.
Watching this exchange, Julia let out a short, amused laugh.
It seemed like Merilda didn’t actually understand the paper either.
“By the way, Yuria?”
“Yes, Miss. Did you call for me?”
“I remember receiving a promise that I would be invited to visit the Imperial Magic Academy, but I’ve yet to hear anything about it?”
“My apologies, Miss. Things have been hectic recently, and I haven’t had the chance to arrange it yet. I will make sure to prepare a proper tour program for you—”
“Oh no! As long as I’m with you, I don’t need anything else.
Since I’m already at the Imperial Magic Academy, would you mind giving me a personal tour?”
“Ah, um…”
Merilda linked arms with Yuri and pulled her close.
Yuri, flustered, glanced around as if seeking help.
Charlotte eagerly raised her hand and stepped forward.
“Last time, our tour ended kind of abruptly, so how about we join—”
“Aaah! For some reason, I feel like I really want to walk around campus alone with Yuri~!”
“Ch-Charlotte… I think we should step back.”
“Uuh…”
Noticing the situation, Julia quickly pulled Charlotte away.
Yuri continued sending desperate looks, silently pleading for help, but everyone simply ignored her.
In the end, she had no choice but to be dragged away by Merilda.
This couldn’t go on.
Back in the fortress city, she had pretended to be a man to win Merilda’s favor.
But she couldn’t keep up the act any longer…!
Finally, Yuri decided to come clean.
“M-Miss … I think you might have misunderstood something, so I should clarify… I’m not actually a man.”
“Of course, I already knew that.”
“…What?”
Yuri had thought she was making a dramatic confession.
But the reaction was far from what she expected.
Instead of shock, Merilda simply giggled.
“Did you think I mistook you for a man? Ahaha! That’s ridiculous. I like you because you’re you, not because you’re a man.”
“…”
“Come on! The sun’s about to set, let’s hurry!”
“Y-Yes, Miss…”
Merilda giggled as she clung even closer to Yuri.
Meanwhile, Yuri could only squirm uncomfortably.
She liked watching cute girls being affectionate with each other… but she never wanted to be part of it!
How did things end up like this!?
***
As I expected, after the academic conference, Neomium prices skyrocketed.
It was already a rare mineral, and now that a useful application had been discovered, demand naturally exploded.
Of course, the main reason Neomium was so rare was that it had been considered useless until now, so no one had actively mined it.
The only Neomium in circulation came as a byproduct of mining for other minerals.
Once the Vermont family completed construction on their Neomium mine, we could start extraction immediately.
Mass-producing Neomium would stabilize the market price soon enough, so there was no need to worry too much.
That said, I’d still have to discuss regulations on Neomium trade with Empress Sister…
Just thinking about it was already giving me a headache.
Talking to Empress Sister was always fun, but discussing official matters with her?
Not at all.
Whenever I brought up anything related to work, she always gave me this look that screamed,
“Hah, look at this brat.”
And every time, I got so nervous that I felt like my lifespan was shrinking.
As if she was about to kidnap me into government work at any moment.
“If Empress Sister calls me in to discuss the bill, I should bring the girls with me…”
Of course, there was a way to counter her.
If I brought Charlotte and Julia, she would immediately soften up.
And now that even Sylvia could appear as a child, the effect would be tripled.
“Yaaah! Whirlwind Slash! Strike down, strong and fast!!!”
Looking outside, I spotted Charlotte and young Sylvia having a sword duel.
Back in the past, their size difference made it hard for them to properly spar.
But now that they were of equal stature, Sylvia could engage in a real fight.
At a glance, Sylvia seemed to be struggling to match Charlotte’s speed.
However, her expression remained composed.
Even though Charlotte could use Aura, she still wasn’t strong enough to be a Sword Master yet.
Not long ago, Charlotte had clearly overpowered Sylvia in pure strength.
But now, it was obvious that Sylvia had surpassed her.
“And now, an ultra-powerful upward slash—huh?”
“…?”
At that moment—
When Charlotte swung her Super Super Strong Sword, the blade vanished.
Not metaphorically.
It literally disappeared.
Charlotte stared blankly, completely dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Sylvia reacted instantly, moving swiftly to catch the falling blade mid-air.
She held up the detached Super Super Strong Sword blade.
Charlotte glanced back and forth between the hilt in her hand and the blade in Sylvia’s grip.
And then—
“My Super Super Strong Sword… died…!”
She collapsed onto the ground with the devastated expression of someone who had just lost their kingdom.
