Ch.321321. Losers

[Biology.]

[Splashing.]

Two voices echo through the quiet prison. Having been locked up here for days, they seem bored as they continue a word chain game in emotionless voices.

“It’s Deus’s turn.”

I unconsciously furrowed my brow at the Dark Spiritmaster’s words as she leaned against my right shoulder.

“Was I even playing?”

[Are you not going to play? It’s boring in here.]

“I’m not particularly bored.”

I actually wished she would be quiet, but Stella immediately responded.

[Da, da… squirrel.]

[Squirrel? Rat poison!]

The prison falls silent again.

The women leaning on both sides simultaneously poked my sides.

[Poison. Your turn.]

[Medicine bowl, pharmacy, pharmacist. You have many options, Deus.]

“I said I’m not playing.”

[Leg!]

Is this supposed to be fun?

Or are they just trying to pass the time in their own way?

“……”

Considering that I briefly contemplated whether I should participate in these souls’ activities as a spiritmaster, I must have been in prison for quite a while.

Crash!

A commotion from outside.

But rather than urgent or tense noise, it had a strange clumsiness to it.

“Ow!”

The voice that came through was quite youthful to be heard in a prison.

“My butt hurts.”

“That’s why I said I should go in first.”

“What if you got caught going in first? I’m a princess, but you’re just an ordinary nobody.”

“You know what? There was a beauty contest at the academy, and I won first place.”

“That must have been rigged. Did you threaten or hit the voters? That’s not very nice.”

“I didn’t! It’s unsightly to throw a tantrum just because you lost.”

“…Do you want me to find out who voted?”

“Ugh, you’re crazy. Fine, they excluded you because you’re royalty, idiot.”

[What are they doing coming to prison?]

[Isn’t Tyren coming to the Magic Tribunal?]

“He won’t come.”

Tyren may have lost most battles we’ve witnessed, but he’s one of the top five experts in the kingdom.

Besides, this place is the underground prison managed by Tyren and the Magic Tribunal judges.

There are intruders, but it’s obvious they’re deliberately not taking action because they know one of them is Princess Elenoa.

Everyone knows about my friendship with Princess Elenoa.

“Anyway, just find the professor.”

“I heard there’s only Deus in the prison. Come in quietly.”

It felt like watching children playing house. Everyone already knew they had broken in, but the two girls were trying not to get caught.

“Why did they come?”

When I finally responded to their voices, their footsteps echoed in reply.

“Deus!”

“Professor!”

The two stood right in front of the iron bars.

They had apparently tried to disguise themselves by wrapping cloths around their heads.

They looked like petty thieves.

“I wanted to come as soon as I heard you were captured, but my brother wouldn’t let me. Sorry!”

“Professor, aren’t you hungry? I brought you a lunch box!”

Instead of making a fuss about breaking me out as I expected, they handed me a thermos and a lunch box.

“Ah, we agreed to give it together! Deus, I cooked too. I also brought dessert!”

An irritated Elenoa pulled out a beautifully wrapped cookie box from her chest.

[Why are they really here?]

[Well, it was hard seeing Deus getting thinner and thinner, so this is good.]

The situation was so absurd that even the Dark Spiritmaster and Stella were bewildered, but I accepted what they offered.

“Have you eaten? If, if you don’t mind, could you try it now?”

“I, I really made it delicious!”

“……”

I wasn’t particularly hungry, but they didn’t seem like they would leave unless I opened the lunch box.

Click.

I opened the lunch box and…

[Wow.]

[Oh dear.]

Sighs came from behind me.

They must have come here in quite a hurry, as all the contents of the lunch box were mixed together like a jumbled rice bowl.

“……”

“……”

The two girls’ eyes half-died as they saw their homemade lunch turned into what looked like dog food.

“…Am I supposed to eat this and then tell you it’s delicious?”

Isn’t this situation too cliché? The two girls seemed to be secretly hoping for exactly that.

[Just close your eyes and eat it. Bokshil and Bbokshil would have eaten it.]

[But they put their hearts into making it, so it would be nice to eat it and say it’s delicious.]

“Haah.”

I didn’t know what it was, but I used the fork Aria handed me to stab something and put it in my mouth.

The color was strange, but it seemed to be roasted carrots. However, they weren’t properly cooked, so they made a crunching sound.

I slowly put down the lunch box.

I was about to give my review, but…

“Deus, I’m a princess.”

Elenoa spoke first, and…

“Professor, actually, she made everything.”

Aria cut ties with Elenoa.

“That’s ridiculous! Didn’t you roast the vegetables? What was it? You were bragging about learning flame sword techniques from a master in the Sahar Desert?”

“How am I supposed to make it work in a frying pan!”

“That’s why I said we should just go to the kitchen! I knew something was wrong when you tried to use flame sword techniques on a frying pan!”

“Professor, that! That’s the rolled egg she made! Try it! I saw her dropping eggshells like they were salt!”

I was a bit worried about where they had cooked this. In Aria’s case, she had tried cooking various foods during her adventures, so she should have some basics.

“I don’t want to eat any more.”

When I handed the lunch box back to them with my answer, both immediately shut their mouths.

[Sigh, he can’t say one nice thing.]

[I should teach them how to cook when I get the chance.]

Stella was right.

The two seemed to need cooking lessons.

“I should give some cooking lessons.”

The heads of the two, who had been drooping with sad faces, lifted simultaneously. The corners of their mouths twitched as they stared at me.

“De-Deus will teach us?”

“Professor, can you cook too?”

“I’ve had to cook for myself since I was young. I can make most dishes.”

So…

“I’ll teach you when I have time.”

That was the kindest answer I could give them, and it seemed to work as they both smiled broadly and jumped up and down.

“I want to try Deus’s hometown food! That thing you mentioned before? Kimchi? I want to try that!”

“What’s your favorite food, Professor? I’ll make it for you!”

The two girls excitedly chattered about various things. They couldn’t stay long and left reluctantly.

“I’ll come again tomorrow, Deus!”

“I’ll come secretly by myself!”

After the two girls left, silence fell, and what remained in my hand was the cookie. This seemed to be store-bought, as it looked quite decent from the outside.

The Dark Spiritmaster peeked from beside me and questioned as she looked down at the cookie.

[I thought the kids would suggest a prison break, but they just left like they were visiting?]

I had thought the same at first. I was worried that the children would come without knowing anything and insist on escaping.

[They trust you.]

Stella smiled gently as she looked at the place where the children had left. She praised the two children, saying they were admirable.

[Your imprisonment must have a reason. They’ve decided not to interfere, even though they don’t know the reason. Because they trust you.]

“Yes, I know.”

I answered calmly while holding the cookie, and Stella quietly linked arms with me and whispered.

[You’re a man with many sins.]

I didn’t bother to answer that. I just slowly put the cookie in my mouth and was slightly surprised by how sweet it was.

I don’t really like sweet things.

But I didn’t want to leave the cookies they had given me, so my hand kept moving.

Soon, only an empty cookie box remained.

* * *

“Do you think Deus ate everything?”

“The cookies were from a bakery, so he must have eaten them. I secretly ate one too, and it was delicious.”

“I thought one was missing.”

The two girls who had escaped from the prison continued to bicker.

But they both knew.

That they were deliberately having this argument. The two girls were intentionally conversing this way, as if to signal to each other that they hadn’t deviated from their normal peaceful routine.

The footsteps of the two walking through the palace corridor gradually quickened. As they descended the stairs at the edge of the palace, Elenoa asked.

“Do you think Tyren was fooled?”

“Definitely. He probably thought it was just the princess’s little adventure and turned a blind eye.”

“How did Deus seem to you?”

“It’s hard to say, but I think we distracted him well enough with the lunch box and cookies that he doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Whew, I was really worried about getting caught by Deus.”

“Your sloppy acting actually shone through. It seemed real because you’re genuinely sloppy.”

“I have talent in acting too, you know.”

Their clumsy spy act at Deus’s prison was deliberate.

That way, the royal family would think that was the extent of the two girls’ abilities.

The news that Aria and Elenoa had visited Deus had probably reached King Orpheus by now.

But that was just a disguise to divert attention.

The destination of the two who had disguised themselves as incompetent intruders was the underground of the palace, a place where people shouldn’t freely enter and exit.

It was the royal treasury protected by dozens of spells cast by the Grand Mage Rockpellican.

The two peeked their heads around the staircase. At the end of the underground corridor were red knights guarding a massive door.

It was one of the places where the royal guard was on duty.

“I never thought the day would come when I, a princess, would rob the palace treasury.”

“We don’t have weapons. If we just raid that place, there will be several items that can help Brother Shinwoo.”

“Right, let’s go and rob… Wait a minute.”

Elenoa, who had been checking the corridor, quickly turned her head to glare at Aria.

“Brother Shinwoo?”

“Oh, Brother Shinwoo. I thought it would be good to separate the title from Professor, and it just rolls off the tongue.”

“Tsk, why do I suddenly want to betray you?”

“Does that mean I’ll go to the same prison as Brother Shinwoo?”

“…Ha-have you ever called him that to his face?”

“Are you crazy? I’d be torn to shreds immediately.”

“……”

“……”

A moment of silence.

The two decided not to continue this conversation and returned to the main topic.

Boom! Boom boom!

Owen’s performance began just in time.

At the girls’ request, Owen had started playing earlier than usual.

“We absolutely cannot get caught, and we need to secretly take out the necessary items and bring them when everything is over. Right?”

Before starting the operation, Aria confirmed once more, and Elenoa nodded.

“We need to grab as many diverse and useful items as possible. We don’t know what plan Deus has in mind, but…”

They needed to gather various items to help him in any situation.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Owen’s performance echoed loudly.

The piano boy, now a palace fixture, had opened the curtain for them.

The two girls steeled themselves as they headed toward the royal treasury.