Ch.322October’s End, and Breaking the Seal (2)

“Um… you know how people get all tense and try too hard when taking profile photos for blind dates? I read online that’s why they often turn out worse than in real life.”

I placed my hand on Fiora’s shoulder.

“They say you should assume someone looks three times better than their photo!”

I shared this dubious theory I’d read online.

“This isn’t just ‘slightly unflattering’!! I refuse to have an arranged marriage with this person!!”

Fiora exclaimed.

“My parents had an arranged marriage too, you know? And they’re living quite happily together!!! I’ll take any dismissal of arranged marriages as a personal insult!!”

I immediately went on the defensive. Honestly, at first they just tolerated each other… but now they can’t live without each other! See! It’s not necessarily a bad thing!

“Ah… s-sorry…”

Fiora hastily apologized. Good. I’ll just let this slide and then kick her out. A perfect exit strategy formed in my mind.

“Wait!! But!! That’s not the point! Sure, some arranged marriages work out, but mine is headed for a bad ending from the start!!! We’ll never be a happy couple!!”

Fiora shouted.

“What does appearance even matter?!”

I fired back angrily.

“But… you chose us based on our looks too. Since we’re all beautiful…”

Mika raised an annoyingly sensible objection, probably due to her professional habits.

“………”

Honestly, I had nothing to say to that. Yeah.

“Besides, it’s not like we have any role in this. We’re just third parties, aren’t we? We’re not in a position to interfere with someone’s marriage.”

Kana spoke up then.

“Right! Well said, Kana! What can we possibly do about this? We’re not in any position to oppose this marriage!”

I agreed.

Plus, Fiora’s family was supposedly from French nobility. We were just ordinary Japanese people. There was nothing we could do.

“Isn’t this all because you couldn’t perform well in Japan? And now you want us to clean up your mess? That’s ridiculous.”

Kana’s words were quite rude, but they contained truth.

Senior Fiora was… just whining.

“You’re right… you’re right…”

Fiora deflated completely after Kana’s verbal counterpunch.

“If there were proper compensation, I might consider disrupting your engagement… but I don’t work for free. My harem and I are all premium talent.”

I stated firmly.

“Right… that’s fair.”

At that moment, Sayaka resolutely knelt down.

And immediately attempted a dogeza. Yes, she prostrated herself completely in the five-point bow position. Influenced by this, Fiora also prostrated herself.

“No way… a dogeza?!”

Kana exclaimed in surprise, and the other girlfriends also stirred.

“……….”

Is it because they’re Japanese? Aren’t they overreacting to a dogeza? Japanese people always get surprised when someone does a dogeza. Whenever someone performs one, they say things like “This guy… such determination…” or “For a man like you to swallow your pride. How unexpected.” All sorts of dramatic reactions.

It’s probably because they value honor so highly after experiencing the Warring States period for so long.

But… I was a native Korean. Honestly, I didn’t care much if someone knelt or not. If beauties like them did a naked dogeza, that might move my heart a little… but just a regular dogeza? So what?

Do you think temporarily acting humble and kneeling will solve all your problems? The world isn’t that easy!!!

“Kneeling won’t work. Instead of thinking about kneeling, think about continuing our negotiation.”

I said indifferently.

“Ignoring a dogeza… you really are a bad person, oppa.”

Madoka commented, looking at me.

“Wait… weren’t we supposed to accept this?”

Even Kana, who had been harsh earlier, gave me a look that said this was going too far.

“Seniors!!! A true Japanese samurai should commit seppuku! Seppuku!”

Tina displayed her distorted view of Japan that she’d picked up somewhere. She seems to think Japanese people are always ready to disembowel themselves.

“No way. That would leave a pool of blood on the floor. Too troublesome to clean up.”

Umi said.

“Umi… you’re secretly a psychopath, aren’t you?”

Even Eri, Umi’s close friend, couldn’t cover for that comment.

“Are you talking about money?”

Fiora showed her determination. Really? She’s still going to ask us for help?

“After listening to your conversation, I realized something. You all have a talent for causing chaos!! You could wreck any situation!!”

Fiora expressed a twisted kind of trust in us.

“Senior… do you realize how insulting you’re being?”

Kana looked at Fiora with cold eyes.

“You could destroy any engagement or whatever! I’ve come to believe in you!!”

Fiora declared firmly.

“Are you picking a fight? I didn’t mishear that, right?”

Aki said, then muttered:

“Your Natori High School… has a lot of eccentric people. Our school doesn’t have this many unusual individuals.”

Aki commented.

“I made the right choice sending Aki to Kishi High School.”

Ms. Aiko suddenly became confident in her judgment as a parent. Hey… are you subtly dissing our alma mater? Why does this make me feel strangely offended?

“I do need money… but isn’t there something better?”

Surprisingly, I wasn’t very interested in money.

I’d established myself in the novel industry with a somewhat stable income… and I still had money left from my console development work with Kunami Company.

One might think I should save as much money as possible since I’m planning to get married.

But… I was living in a different world now.

‘Pink Beard… According to Dopple, he’s become stronger than when he encountered him.’

He reportedly devoured eight planets. This guy is supposed to arrive in late December or January. And the final battle is scheduled for March. Though they’ve tried to block the worst events, by that point, the atmosphere would become quite apocalyptic.

If we don’t defeat him, Earth would simply perish. There was no point in saving money. It would be useful only as toilet paper.

“Hmph… as expected, even a warrior obsessed with women is still a warrior. You’ve adopted the attitude of distancing yourself from gold.”

Fiora somehow interpreted my reaction positively. Why does the world insist on being my fan?

I wondered if there was anything that could help in battle.

“In that case, I’ll provide compensation that a warrior like you would appreciate.”

Fiora opened her phone and showed me a photo.

It was a sword in a glass case. A Western curved sword, a sabre. The kind commonly known as a cavalry sword.

“This is the legendary sword passed down in the Fleur family, the Flügel der Jägers.”

An impressive name came out. I only understood the German words for “wing” and “hunter.” It seemed like they just threw in all the cool-sounding words, making it less impressive. Sasix would probably like it though.

“Wait. That’s German. Why use German when you’re French?”

Umi said.

“Umi… I’m surprised you have enough intelligence to recognize German!!”

I was shocked by this.

“Why do you keep treating me like I’m stupid!!!”

Umi shouted.

“Well… you are kind of stupid.”

Taiga said.

“Setting aside Umi’s intelligence… how did you know, Umi?”

I asked her.

“I saw it in that manga in Shota’s room, Attack on X. It has German in it.”

Umi explained.

Yeah… Umi often reads manga in my room. She leaves crumbs from her snacks on my bookshelf, which is quite annoying.

“But why German?”

Mika asked.

“Well… European noble families and royal houses are all related. Their languages are quite similar.”

I shared some random knowledge I had. Before the Age of Exploration, there was an Age of Strategic Marriages.

“Anyway, it’s a historical sword that museums are clamoring to get. During the chaotic French Revolution, many revolutionaries and nobles whose names appear in history books lost their lives to this sword. It was used by a legendary assassin from our family. It boasts overwhelming strength and sharpness that transcended the technology of that era.”

Fiora explained.

The moment I looked at the screen, a status window appeared in my vision.

Ding-!!

‘Forgotten Past Memory Unlocked: Hero’s Appraisal Trait Acquired!’

I gained a trait called Hero’s Appraisal.

‘Hero’s Appraisal: Before becoming a hero, you were an excellent treasure hunter. You can determine the approximate value of items by looking at them.’

In other words, it’s a trait for assessing the value of items. Through Fiora’s screen, the sword’s value appeared.

‘Flügel der Jägers: S-Rank’

‘This sword has drunk the blood of countless enemies. It’s known as the sword that slays heroes.’

That sounds exactly like a game item description.

‘Epic Effect: Damage dealt to boss-level enemies is doubled.’

A simple but powerful effect. Any damage is simply doubled. If this were a game, it would have been hotfixed immediately. I need to exploit this before it gets nerfed!!

‘Moreover, boss-level… does that include Pink Beard?’

It seemed the effect would trigger against all named bosses. Pink Beard was a named final boss. The damage I deal to him would also be doubled. This would give me a significant advantage against Pink Beard.

Plus, there was one line that caught my attention:

‘Epic traits can be inherited by the Pinocchio Sword.’

After obtaining this weapon, I could feed it to the Pinocchio Sword to perfectly replicate its traits. This was an excellent opportunity to power up the Pinocchio Sword.

“Senior… is there a way for us to get that precious item?”

I asked Fiora.

“O-Of course… I’ll take responsibility and get it for you.”

Fiora nodded.

“If you break your promise… I’ll burn down your house.”

I stated flatly.

“That’s terrifying!!! How can you casually come up with such an idea?!!”

Fiora exclaimed with her mouth wide open.

“You’re doing this just for some sword? Our family has better swords too…”

Kana grumbled.

“Trust me. This is… necessary. For what’s coming.”

I said to Kana.

“Hmm… well. Shota doesn’t do pointless things.”

Kana sighed and pointed at me.

“If things seem dangerous, I’ll definitely help you.”

Kana then spoke with determination.

“Thank you.”

I truly felt blessed with women once again.

Anyway, on the premise of receiving the sword, I decided to accept the request. It was such an overpowered weapon.