Ch.225225. Yeonan

“Good grief.”

Findenai sighs in exasperation while preparing to brew tea. When I see the teapot and tea leaf container in her hands, my eyes immediately narrow.

“Put that down.”

I clearly warned her not to brew tea carelessly.

“Bullshit. You said it improved.”

“Even if pig urine improves, how much better could it get?”

“That’s seriously harsh.”

Despite pouting, Findenai doesn’t stop brewing the tea.

What should I do with this woman who’s like a tank?

I could only sigh.

“You know everyone in the neighborhood heard Aria shouting yesterday, right?”

“……”

“Is it okay for a professor to spend that kind of time with a student? Especially when you have a fiancée?”

“It wasn’t what you’re thinking.”

Aria did express her feelings, but I naturally rejected her.

She just folded her arms with a smile, saying she wouldn’t back down so easily.

“Sigh, that’s the problem with you. You leave room for misunderstanding, so weird people keep sticking to you.”

That’s rich coming from the weirdest one.

“Huh? I mean!”

While the water boils, Findenai positions herself and makes a slapping motion.

Bwoong!

“Like this! You bitch, get lost! He’s taken! That’s how you should do it!”

“……Please act with some common sense.”

What kind of crazy person would reject a confession like that?

“But if you don’t do this, people will cling to you all day. Am I right or not?”

“Huff.”

Talking with Findenai somehow makes me tired, so I press my eyes firmly before looking at her again.

“Give me your cheek.”

“Do you like it sadistic? Like wearing a collar and spanking?”

“……”

Forget it.

It felt like I fired a simple slingshot while she mowed me down with a machine gun.

Whenever I tried to discuss such topics with Findenai, I usually had to stop the conversation.

Logic might help things make sense, but she responds without logic or common sense.

“Well, I can accommodate that.”

Saying this, she places the teapot on the desk, apparently finished brewing.

“Here.”

She pours the tea she brewed into a cup and pushes it toward me.

“……”

“Ah, if it’s better than pig urine, does that mean it’s at least human urine now?”

How would I know that?

With that expression, I silently stare at Findenai, who just shrugs.

“Don’t know? Haven’t you tried it?”

“When would I ever drink something like that?”

“Didn’t you try it when you were with Illuania?”

“……”

“You lick her ass but don’t drink her urine? That’s strange.”

“Are you angry about something?”

Judging by how excessively confrontational she was being today, she seemed to have some complaints.

I pick up the teacup and take a sip.

It was definitely much better than when she used to brew it before, but it still tasted like something the tea growers and processors should receive an apology for.

“I’m not angry, but I think I’m a bit sexually frustrated.”

“……”

I almost spat out my tea involuntarily. I didn’t expect her to be this explicit.

Meanwhile, Findenai was looking at me without any change in expression.

“What? We’re both adults. Fuck, did I say I liked you or not?”

“……”

“So why are you neglecting me for days? You were stuck in some Succubus Realm or whatever for a month, and now you’re back and—”

“That’s enough.”

I tried to stop her, thinking she would continue, but she wasn’t someone who would stop just because I asked.

“Cobwebs are going to form in my pussy, master.”

“Owen, get out.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

By the way, Owen was also in my office besides me and Findenai.

Owen rushed out with a reddened face, which only made Findenai’s language even more crude.

“Master, let’s be honest.”

“You’ve been too honest already.”

“I understand that your emotions are shallow, so you’re not sure if what you feel for me is love. Ah, fuck! The more I think about it, the more it sucks, but I get it!”

“Haa, I wonder what exactly you understand.”

I sigh and press my throbbing forehead. Not that it solved the cause of my headache.

“I also understand that some terrible crisis is coming, and you need to work like a dog for the next four years to prepare for it.”

In four years, the continent will face destruction. No, with many flows twisted, it might perish even faster.

Since that’s now uncertain, I needed to prepare urgently.

“But you’re not even going to have a lover during that time? You deliberately made Erika your fiancée to prevent others from flirting with you?”

“……”

“This I don’t understand?”

Findenai puts down the teapot with a thud and folds her arms confrontationally.

“You suffer through hardships! Wouldn’t it be nice to heal by burying your face in some woman’s breasts?”

Her language was quite vulgar, but Findenai was sharply hitting the core issue.

“But from what I see, you’re not avoiding relationships because of threats. You seem to be avoiding them because you’re worried about what comes after.”

“……”

“There were similar guys at the scrapyard. Guys who wouldn’t get girlfriends because they didn’t know when they might die.”

Clunk.

Findenai climbs onto the desk in front of me. Papers scatter as she sits cross-legged and stares into my eyes.

“That’s not it, right?”

Unlike her rough language until now.

“It’s not, is it?”

Her voice was almost pleading.

Though her expression didn’t change, I could feel a slight tremor.

“It’s not.”

So I answer clearly without avoiding her eyes.

“I have no intention of sacrificing myself.”

“……”

“I will survive too. When everything is over, I’ll step down from both my professor position and my role as a spiritmaster. I’ll live quietly in Norsweden.”

It’s not a lie.

I sincerely wanted to live that way.

I had no intention of sacrificing myself willingly.

I planned to prevent such a situation from arising.

If possible.

“…It’s definitely not a lie, but why do I feel so uneasy?”

Findenai tilts her head, sighs, and slowly stands up.

I’d been struggling with where to look since her underwear was clearly visible, and just when I thought things would be better—

A heavy weight pressed down on me from above.

Findenai had somehow climbed on top of me and was giggling mischievously.

“Are you hard?”

She slightly moves her hips to check. I was about to shout at her to get off immediately, but she hugged me tightly.

“Don’t think about going anywhere.”

“…I’ll try not to.”

“Yes, you should try.”

Findenai looks at me without moving away. Seeing she had no intention of getting off, I tried to gently push her away, but she licked her lips.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we kissed, hasn’t it?”

“Don’t cross the line.”

“Acting all precious about a few kisses when you’ve got such a worn-out body.”

“That wasn’t me.”

“Whatever, close your eyes.”

Just as I was about to draw on my mana, thinking this was getting out of hand—

Clunk.

“Deus, His Majesty…”

Erika enters the office, opening the door.

She seemed to have something to say but froze when she saw us, and a chilly wind began to blow.

“What are you doing?”

Erika’s voice was so cold it seemed like she had cast a spell.

Before I could answer, Findenai frowned and replied.

“Having an affair.”

“Haa.”

Unable to tolerate it anymore, I used magic to blow her away. She tumbled over the desk behind her and fell to the floor.

“Ow!”

“What’s the matter?”

Leaving Findenai grumbling in pain, possibly from hitting her head, I stand up and straighten my clothes.

“…His Majesty is calling for you. He says he has something to tell you.”

Erika was still glaring sharply, clearly displeased.

I acknowledge and pass by her, heading out the door.

She naturally follows behind me.

“Nothing to say?”

Pouting beside me, her expression wasn’t that of a cold professor but more like a sulking girl.

With slightly puffed cheeks and a finger poking my side.

Since she was my fiancée Erika, I felt I should at least offer an explanation.

“Don’t attach meaning to Findenai’s actions.”

“…That’s not supposed to be reassuring, is it?”

“This is difficult.”

As we head toward the audience chamber, I try to think of how to explain, but it was hard to make her understand.

Findenai’s antics were that nonsensical.

It was difficult to make Professor Erika, who lived in a world of common sense and logic, understand.

“Haa.”

Erika sighs as if she’ll let it go for now, but then drops one comment.

“Just don’t forget who your fiancée is.”

“…Right.”

Hearing Erika’s words, which could be either a request or a warning, we arrive at the audience chamber.

I thought other vassals might be present, but only His Majesty Orpheus was sitting alone on the throne.

“You called for me.”

When there’s no one else watching, there’s no need for excessive formality and etiquette.

This was now a familiar way of conversing with His Majesty.

“Yes, you’re here.”

King Orpheus, who mourned with his citizens over the blood spilled in this incident, even held a festival to encourage everyone to move forward.

He who had made the wisest possible responses yet still regretted the loss of many lives.

I understood why his expression was grim, but today he looked even more haggard.

“Do you know that Elenoa is currently in the Kingdom of Zerman?”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

I wondered where she had gone when she wasn’t seen in Greyfond, and it turns out she was participating as one of the envoys to the Kingdom of Zerman.

With the collapse of the Republic of Clark, she was actively engaging in negotiations about it.

It was a show of sincerity to the Kingdom of Zerman that the princess herself was moving directly, despite her considerable diplomatic skill.

Especially since they had shown signs of wanting to invade the Griffin Kingdom.

Elenoa would use that to negotiate aggressively.

“The negotiations went well. Zerman can’t demand too much of Clark Republic’s shares. Using the fact that we have the Marias tribe, we leveraged the previous incident to resolve things smoothly.”

“Is there a separate problem?”

“Yes, a very big problem.”

Orpheus sighed and continued.

“A giant monster has appeared in the Sahar Desert.”

“A monster… you say?”

Could there be monsters adapted to live in that heat?

No, there wouldn’t even be animals to prey on.

“This monster is giving us a real headache. It’s already devoured Zerman soldiers in the triple digits.”

So it’s using humans as food.

“Because of it, we’re in a troublesome situation. We can’t cross the desert because of that thing.”

“…I don’t have much expertise in monster extermination.”

In the desert, there would be plenty of souls, but whether they would be willing to fight a monster was questionable.

“I know. The monster extermination will be handled by the Kingdom of Zerman anyway. They’re forming a subjugation team.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Another deep sigh.

This was spoken not as a king but as a brother.

“The problem is… that my sister is too charming a young lady.”

“……”

When I stood silently without saying anything, King Orpheus’s eyes curved strangely.

“Don’t you agree?”

“…I do.”

“Sincerely?”

“Yes, Princess Elenoa is truly a charming woman.”

“Right! Exactly! That’s it! And those damn princes of Zerman are courting Elenoa!”

This was surprising.

It was an unexpected development I hadn’t considered.

But it seemed to be giving King Orpheus a headache as he held his forehead and said:

“Marrying one of Zerman’s princes would certainly build trust between our countries… but I have no intention of forcing my sister into a political marriage.”

Now I understood why King Orpheus had called me and wanted me to go to the Kingdom of Zerman.

“Go and show them. Show them that they shouldn’t set their sights on Elenoa.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Do you know something?”

With a dark complexion but a slight curl at the corner of his mouth, King Orpheus mischievously said:

“Elenoa is now 18 years old. She’s of marriageable age.”

“……”

“Just so you know. Now, prepare to depart.”

When I stood stubbornly in silent resistance, he added as if he’d forgotten:

“That’s a royal command.”