Ch.276Side Story: Discovery

After that, things flowed smoothly without any notable incidents. Nika didn’t come back, no one slipped succubus pheromones into my drink, and Diana wasn’t caught trying to pass me erotic novels.

After becoming friends with Diana, Kang Yuna no longer moved cautiously around the banquet hall but walked around as if it were her own home. With the two of them together, their shamelessness doubled.

As if to say, “What are you going to do about it if we’re like this?”

During this time, my relationship with them was questioned, but after they both simultaneously had a fit denying that they were my secret girlfriends, such talk disappeared completely.

Afterward, they fought, each blaming the other for causing such misunderstandings. Diana, who was on relatively good terms with me, watched with fascination.

“I really don’t understand why anyone would think that. Don’t you agree?”

Trisha couldn’t comprehend the friendship between those two, which continued until the last day of the birthday celebration.

‘Well, it should be fine.’

When Diana asked if she could see me again, she answered that it was up to me, not her, which suggested she would faithfully keep my secret. Despite everything, she was ultimately someone I could trust.

‘The conquest of the demon realm seems almost complete…’

Since revealing her grand ambition of conquering the demon realm, Nika had been reporting her progress daily. Having consumed a massive amount of life energy and wielding a demon sword, her progress was astonishing.

In particular, after distributing her excess life energy to her subordinates, some experienced permanent physical enhancements. And not just minor ones—several levels of improvement.

“Is that all?”

“That’s not something to be dismissed so casually! To explain it in Earth terms, it’s like upgrading from an early 2000s computer to the latest high-performance model.”

“I understand completely.”

By the time the banquet ended, I heard that she had already conquered over 80% of the demon realm. Only those demons who declared they would never serve a succubus remained, making their last stand.

—”I need to make an example of them. I’ll capture them all and extract their life energy in the most humiliating way possible for males, leaving them barely alive. Of course, my subordinates will handle that, so Master can just wait with peace of mind. After all, the only life energy that can reach the Queen is yours alone.”

I couldn’t bring myself to ask what that “most humiliating method for males” entailed.

“I should be able to return in about two weeks at most.”

“That’s good news.”

Erestica smiled brightly and tightened her arms around me. As always, my head was buried deep in her enormous valley. The rich scent of milk rushed into my nostrils.

“Will you continue staying here, my child?”

“Well… I plan to go back once things calm down, but the problem is I don’t know when that will be.”

The reason I was taking refuge in the Director’s office instead of the club room or dormitory was simple. After the birthday banquet prepared by my family ended, the attention focused on me increased tremendously.

Of course, my name was fairly well-known even before that. From the crazy freshman who declared he would achieve top grades in the semester, to the madman whose purpose at the Academy no one understood.

But the attention after the banquet was on a different level. While students at the Academy had heard that the Crate family was wealthy, the banquet made them truly realize it.

And how much power was connected to it.

“No matter how much money you have, designating a quarter of the Imperial capital as a special banquet district to celebrate your son’s birthday isn’t something just anyone can do.”

“That’s right. Laura and I had to exert some influence.”

That required power. Enormous power.

“In a way, aren’t you a powerful figure too? I hear the Mages’ Association is internally discussing whether to designate your birthday as an official holiday.”

“I won’t deny the former, but the latter sounds absolutely horrifying. They’re already overwhelmed with membership applications.”

The students of Bellium Academy traced the source and origin of this immense power to the club I created. The place where the Imperial Princess, the Saint, and even the Hero—the core of the Empire—all gathered.

The rumors had gotten so out of hand that even Ciel’s status as an orphan was suspected to be a cover for some secret identity.

“I’ve officially prohibited dual membership applications, so don’t worry. Though it was likely done with Laura in mind, I made it clear that only the Imperial Princess could be an exception. Why don’t you post an official notice soon that you’re no longer accepting new members?”

Despite Bellium Academy’s policy of ranking students based on grades rather than outside status, applying the same rules to royalty wasn’t easy.

Especially when it concerned the Imperial Princess, who had never once lost her position as the top student in her year.

“That’s a relief.”

“Indeed it is. Now, have another bite.”

Erestica scooped up some pudding with a teaspoon and activated her magic. The tip of the spoon disappeared through a dimensional gate and reappeared on my tongue. The sweet taste of milk spread throughout my mouth.

It was a dimensional magic that Erestica had personally modified to solve her dilemma: she wanted to hug me from behind, but doing so would bury my head in her chest, making it impossible to feed me.

I wondered if this was what made maternal love so great—modifying dimensional magic just to feed someone.

“Hehe… there’s plenty more, so eat up, my son…”

And it seemed she no longer intended to hide the source of the milk-rich desserts she had consistently served whenever I came here.

“By the way, the cathedral should be completed soon.”

“Is that so?”

They had been talking about building it for ages, and it seemed completion was finally approaching. Originally, they planned to demolish the existing Starlight Order’s cathedral and build there, but after various discussions, the location was changed to inside the Academy.

It was a win-win situation: Rozaria was glad not to receive fanatical worship in the cathedral built with the devotees’ money and passion, and the Academy was happy that the Saint would continue to stay.

“It should be finished in about two days. Now, say aah—”

Since the teaspoon was already in my mouth through the dimensional gate, there was no need for me to say “aah,” but she consistently added it anyway, suggesting it was for her own satisfaction. I quietly chewed the pudding with its remarkably strong milk flavor.

Erestica continued to indulge herself for quite some time until the pudding, which was almost as big as my face, was completely empty. At least it tasted good.

“My son?”

Having finished today’s dessert, I tried to get up, but she grabbed my wrist.

“Now that you’ve eaten, I’d like my son to feed me his white stuff too…”

“…”

So that’s why her way of addressing me had changed—she had been planning this from the beginning. I thought she would just go a bit overboard as usual and stop.

Ignoring my reaction, her long fingers slowly crept toward my lower body, slipping inside my pants—

“Human! Human, are you here— Eek?!”

“Emergency! Emerg— Kyaak?!”

The two goddesses who suddenly appeared were startled. Taking advantage of the distraction, I escaped from her chest. It had been just moments before something was about to happen.

“…What brings you here?”

Erestica, whose enjoyable time had just been interrupted, glared at the two goddesses with a ferocious expression. Both of them, seemingly forgetting they were deities, hid behind me trembling.

“What’s the matter with both of you? Why such urgency?”

I gently tickled Erestica’s horns to calm her down. Her fierce eyes immediately softened, and she let out a nasal moan, savoring my touch.

“…Remember that human who sacrificed herself by throwing her body into time with us?”

“Yes, I do.”

I removed my hand from her horns. This wasn’t a conversation to have while doing that. Erestica also straightened herself.

“Has something happened?”

“The scattered time of that woman has started gathering in one place.”

“…This is Aria.”

Leona stared blankly at the golden crack. Inside was Aria. More precisely, it was Aria’s time that hadn’t fully gathered yet.

The time of Aria, who had served as the core in the flow to restore this world, was gradually coming together in one place.

Inside the crack, only about one-third of Aria existed. Her head, below her left elbow, right thigh, left calf, and parts of her upper and lower body. The rest had not yet returned.

“Why is she like this?”

“Because she hasn’t fully returned from within time.”

“I… see…”

Leona continued to stare at the crack for a long while before turning with sorrowful eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“A little. I thought I had completely let go… but it’s not that easy.”

A bitter smile returned to her face. I asked the two fidgeting goddesses beside us.

“How long will it take for her body to be fully restored?”

“We don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“Time has already left our hands. Perhaps in the past we could have known, but now it’s beyond our control. Of course, we could forcibly intervene… but that would cause time to run wild again.”

If that’s the case, there’s nothing to be done. I had no desire to experience what happened before again.

I cast a barrier to prevent anything from approaching Aria’s vicinity. It also helped conceal her appearance. While neither people nor magical beasts should come here anyway, it was better to be safe.

“Let’s head back. I hope she can return as quickly as possible.”

“…Yes.”

Two eyes quietly opened.

The blue pupils that had been watching the departing figures only retreated behind closed eyelids after those silhouettes had completely disappeared.