Ch.270Side Story: Birthday Banquet – 5

To sum up my impressions of my birthday celebration in a word: when money, magic, and power meet purpose and enthusiasm, nothing in the world is impossible.

Money is too abundant to even mention, magic was fully supported by the Archmages and the Mages’ Association, and power overflowed with the Imperial Princess, the Chairwoman, the Hero, and the Saint.

When those three elements combined with the purpose of my first public birthday and the excessive enthusiasm of the Crate family, it turned into something like a runaway train.

“Here. Take it, my son. It’s for you.”

“…What is this?”

“Your statue. Made of gold.”

After the Emperor’s subtle hint, I received a 4.5-meter-tall statue of myself made of 100% pure gold as a gift from my father as soon as I arrived at the mansion. It was to be erected at the entrance of the Crate family estate.

My mother gave me enough jewels to practically wrap around the 4.5-meter statue. I suspected the cost of this statue alone would exceed the wealth of an average baronial family.

Not to mention the magic cast on the statue and the permission to erect a golden statue, which couldn’t be valued in monetary terms. After all, golden statues were only permitted for the Imperial family.

“Thank you, Father, Mother. It’s a wonderful gift—”

Just as I was about to express my gratitude, since this was still within a somewhat acceptable range, my mother interrupted me with a smile.

“Oh my, what are you saying? Did you think we would end your birthday gifts with just this little thing?”

“Pardon?”

But that was merely the beginning.

I was dragged into the first banquet hall and had to face mountains of gifts prepared by my parents. The golden statue was just the start, as truly extraordinary items poured forth.

Elixirs that were produced in extremely limited quantities and primarily supplied to the Imperial Palace, a bundle of bright red dragon scales, a sword once used by the Sword Saint, a severed horn of an ancient Demon Lord—and these were just a small fraction.

Naturally, everything was authentic. The dragon scales were certified by Erestica, the Sword Saint’s sword was verified by the Sword Saint herself, and the Demon Lord’s horn was certified by the Divine Spirit.

“Or would you prefer something else, son?”

There were other gifts beyond material possessions. From smaller privileges like the right to operate the Crate family’s trading company, to countless benefits that couldn’t be measured in money.

The most impressive offer was a territory slightly removed from the center of the Empire. This despite the fact that I hadn’t even been granted a title yet.

The territory belonged to a baron’s family, but the previous head had apparently squandered the family fortune on gambling, leaving it effectively under the Crate family’s control.

I wondered if it was appropriate to say such things in front of the Emperor, but when he caught my glance, he waved his hand dismissively, indicating it wasn’t an issue.

“Now it’s over—”

“This is just the beginning, son. Let’s go to the banquet hall.”

“…Isn’t this already a banquet hall?”

After receiving all those dizzying offers, we had to move to yet another banquet hall. Their way of thinking was completely different from ours, designating separate buildings for different purposes.

Actually, it was a bit of a stretch to call it just a banquet hall. As I had confirmed on the way here, about a quarter of the capital had been designated as a special banquet district.

“Uh… uhhhh…”

There was one more person besides me who couldn’t adapt to this situation—Kang Yuna.

Unlike me, who had lived as Mira Crate for nearly 20 years, Kang Yuna had never experienced anything like this before, so she followed us in a half-dazed state.

It wasn’t simply because of the extraordinary scale of wealth. It seemed to be the overwhelming flood of information beyond that.

Her superiors had appeared in party dresses from another world.

Those superiors were being called Imperial Princess, Duke’s daughter, Saint, Hero, or Chairwoman.

Plus, they were sticking close to me with no intention of leaving.

Even Kang Rahye, whom she thought was just an A-rank Hunter, was addressed with the lofty title of Sword Saint, someone the Emperor approached cautiously.

And if that wasn’t enough, she couldn’t have imagined a birthday celebration of this scale, and to top it all off, the average mana level of people here vastly exceeded Earth’s. It was natural for her common sense to collapse.

But what surprised Kang Yuna the most was something else.

“Happy birthday, little brother. We contributed a bit too.”

“Happy birthday! I’ve set up some special events at the casino in honor of your birthday!”

“Thanks, sis. Just to be sure, these aren’t strange events, right?”

My sisters from this world.

When Diana and Trisha, dressed in gorgeous dresses, approached me with birthday wishes and I thanked them, calling them “sis,” Kang Yuna’s eyes widened. She immediately whispered to me:

“What was that just now? Sisters?”

“Yeah. Not Kang Yuseong’s, but Mira Crate’s sisters. Why?”

“No, it’s just unexpected. You never mentioned them before.”

“You should have asked. I wanted to bring them, but you always refused, saying you weren’t mentally prepared.”

Kang Yuna kept glancing at the two women as she spoke, and Diana and Trisha couldn’t help but notice. They took the opportunity when Kang Yuna stepped away briefly to whisper to me:

“Little brother, who is that woman? The one who’s been talking to you while looking at us.”

“I haven’t heard about someone like her among your companions. Everyone seems to be acting familiar, and even the Sword Saint is paying attention to her, so she must be someone you know…”

“She’s just a sister I know. She’s also an acquaintance of the Sword Saint.”

“Hmm?”

Though I thought I had explained it plainly, my words seemed to shock the two of them. As soon as I used the word “sister,” Diana and Trisha’s gazes changed dramatically.

“You must care for her a lot?”

“Suddenly?”

“This is the first time we’ve seen you call another woman ‘sister’ besides us, so of course.”

“…What’s the big deal about that?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s the big deal’? It’s a very significant matter, little brother.”

“Our little brother speaks casually with the Imperial Princess, consistently uses informal speech with the Royal Guard Karna, and speaks informally to Duchess Priscilla, yet he uses the term ‘sister’ for that woman while speaking casually. Should we be concerned or not?”

“…”

Though it’s become quite a distant memory now, I did use formal speech when I first met Priscilla and Laura. By this world’s standards, Laura was two years older and Priscilla one year older than me.

The reason I speak informally to them now is because our standard is based on Earth.

If we count by our pre-possession ages, all four of us were either the same age or a year younger than me. That’s why we switched to informal speech.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You must have your reasons. We ‘sisters’ will just have a little chat with her, okay?”

But to Diana and Trisha, who knew nothing about Earth, it seemed to appear differently. They both left me with those words and approached Kang Yuna, pretending to be friendly.

“…”

Suddenly finding herself the center of attention, Kang Yuna glared at me resentfully. She was completely overwhelmed by Diana and Trisha’s joint offensive.

Well, what could I do? She’d have to understand unless she wanted to be on equal footing with me.

“Y-Young Master…”

About an hour later, after stepping out for some fresh air, I encountered Beatrice. Not in her usual maid uniform, but in a glamorous party dress.

Beatrice seemed uncomfortable with the dress, which was much more revealing than her maid uniform, and awkwardly fidgeted with her body. Her hands, covered in long party gloves, nervously touched various parts of her body.

“I apologize for not attending to you. It-it took too much time to put this on…”

“It’s fine. No need to blame yourself. But why the dress? Did someone make you wear it?”

“N-No. It was my own decision. Because it’s your first birthday. I wanted to dress like this… I chose the design myself… Um, Young Master? Why are you looking at me like that… Is it strange?”

Instead of answering, I pulled Beatrice into an embrace. Though she was quite tall for a woman, she wasn’t too big to fit in my arms. A shrill scream escaped her.

“Eek?! Y-Young Master?!”

“It suits you perfectly. I mean it.”

With those words, Beatrice collapsed with a “whoosh.”

Honestly, I did wonder if my sudden embrace was too abrupt, but it was too late now. There was no special reason for the hug—I was just touched by her decision.

“If-if you say that… it’s bad for my heart… I’m not that…”

“Why? It suits you perfectly. Oh, and you look extremely beautiful too.”

“Hiccup?!”

Beatrice was shocked. Somehow she seemed even more embarrassed than when she had worn a swimsuit.

Afterward, I continued to wander around the banquet district, meeting various people. I met Archmages including Valera, professors from Bellium Academy, and people from the Mages’ Association.

The more I saw, the more I marveled at the incredible level of preparation. It was amazing how they managed to prepare all this in just a week, especially so soon after Diana’s birthday.

‘I thought Nika said she would come too…’

At the same time, my curiosity grew. I wondered about Nika, who still hadn’t appeared despite Erestica telling me she would come around this time.

I especially wanted to confirm with her personally what she had been doing and how she planned to appear.

But my concerns didn’t last long.

“…Succubus Queen?”

She appeared at the banquet hall as the Succubus Queen, holding a demon sword in one hand, with wings much larger than when I last saw her spread wide, wearing a black leather coat that covered her entire body.

People naturally backed away in terror, and the atmosphere instantly froze. Nika calmly raised both hands. The demon sword emitting an ominous aura dissolved into mist and disappeared.

“I have not come here to fight. Did I not say? The succubi wish to propose an alliance with you.”

“Then for what purpose have you come, Succubus Queen?”

The Emperor, instantly transforming from a drunk neighborhood uncle to the ruler of the Empire, asked with dignity. Nika’s pinkish eyes, tinged slightly with blood-red, turned toward me.

“I have come to personally congratulate that man on his day of birth.”

“…”

This time, even the Emperor couldn’t help but show surprise. In fact, not just the Emperor, but everyone else was shocked. The only exceptions were the seven people who already knew Nika.

“Excuse me briefly. It won’t take long.”

Nika gently wrapped her wings around my body. The Sword Saint, finally grasping the situation, tried to step forward, but Erestica held her back.

Judging by their reactions, this seemed to be a planned action. Both Nika’s appearance as the Succubus Queen and her taking me away.

I surrendered myself willingly, and soon we arrived at a large tower. Nika carefully set me down. As my feet touched the ground, I looked around. We were in the demon realm.

“I need an explanation.”

“Of course, Master. I’ll tell you everything.”

Once we were alone, Nika unhesitatingly removed her clothes, revealing the characteristic barely-dressed appearance of a succubus. Her exposed skin was slightly damp with sweat.

“Actually, I needed a bit more time. I wanted to tell you after I had conquered the entire demon realm.”

“…Conquered the demon realm?”

“Yes. Isn’t that why you gave me the demon sword?”

Nika revealed everything she had been doing since receiving the demon sword.

To faithfully follow my “intentions,” she had united all succubi and waged a war of conquest, achieving over 70% success so far, and securing the loyalty of the subjugated demon races.

“There won’t be any more fighting between humans and demons now. We have a new enemy—the Gates. They’re similar to demons but somehow unpleasant creatures, so we have ample justification to fight.”

“…”

That wasn’t my intention at all.

But I couldn’t say those words aloud. It was too late for that now. Perhaps I should have checked in with her at least once in the meantime.

“…Alright, I understand. So?”

“Originally, I planned to inform you after conquering the entire demon realm and ask for a reward, but as I mentioned earlier, time became limited. A maid not celebrating her master’s birthday is unthinkable.”

Nika carefully turned around. Pheromones wafted strongly from her body. It was a sweet scent I hadn’t smelled in a long time. Since she wasn’t emitting it intentionally, it meant she was going into heat.

This time, I didn’t try to dispel it with purification magic. As a result, my body began to warm up gradually. Nika smiled sweetly and pressed closer.

“So, I’ll give myself to you as a gift.”

Words that directly contradicted the conclusion that was supposedly agreed upon. I wondered if this too was part of the agreement, or Nika’s independent action. As I felt myself growing warmer, I asked:

“What am I supposed to do with you if I accept?”

As the influence of the pheromones gradually intensified, my hands moved on their own to grasp Nika’s waist. She embraced my neck and whispered softly:

“You know how to use a succubus, don’t you?”