Each Person’s Thoughts (1)

A one-time joint expedition planned at the suggestion of Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot and Seraphine.

Naturally, just because the joint expedition was decided didn’t mean they immediately formed a party and set off for the next episode.

The major events of 『Luminor Academy』 had roughly fixed timings, and arriving earlier than that would only mean camping out nearby.

And timing-wise, it was quite bad; it was almost dawn right after the incident at the Noble exchange meeting ended.

It was too late to move anywhere. From the start, the intention behind this Noble exchange meeting was utterly impure, so by the time the party ended, everyone was supposed to have found a room and gone in.

However, today, due to the Machart incident, most of the Noble Ladies and young masters had hastily returned home from the Star Palace. Some would be returning to their hometown territories by Carriage late at night, while others would stay a night at an accommodation near the Imperial Capital and depart early tomorrow morning.

Thanks to this, the Star Palace guest rooms, which were originally supposed to be used as daily hotel rooms for noble offspring by Machart’s right, were practically empty, allowing them to pick and choose. Of course, from tomorrow, most of the rooms would be used for their intended purpose again, but anyway.

“‘Until the schedule for the ‘temporary joint expedition’ is set, I will instruct the Servants to allow all of you to stay at the Star Palace, so please don’t hesitate and make yourselves at home. If you have any inconveniences during your stay, feel free to tell the Servants.”

“Ah, Seraphine. Seraphine, are you also staying at the Star Palace today?”

“…No. I must return to the main palace to report on my older brother Machart’s funeral arrangements. It’s something that needs to be handled as quietly as possible, so I think it’s right for me to go back and explain it to Father myself.”

“Really? I was planning to visit your room tonight.”

“…Y-yes, yes, yes?”

…Did that crazy bastard suddenly go into heat?

Thanks to the conversation The Hero and Seraphine had just now, I briefly thought that he hadn’t proposed the temporary joint expedition without any thought, but that recent remark completely shattered my trust in him.

No way, did that bastard really suggest ‘temporary partner’ or whatever just to try and jump me…?

“H-Hero-nim. Please, say such things when we are alone. And I have my older brother’s funeral, so I need to maintain a modest demeanor for a while…”

“Huh? Oh, no, I just wanted to use the Magic Crystal Ball in your room for communication, Seraphine. There’s someone I need to call with the Magic Crystal Ball before we go on our joint expedition.”

“…If that is the case, I will give you the key to the Star Palace’s private room, so you may enter and use it anytime.”

“Ah, thank you, Seraphine.”

…Was he teasing her on purpose, or did Seraphine simply misunderstand, and he genuinely just wanted to use the Magic Crystal Ball for communication?

Seraphine bowed her head deeply, her face beet red. In the game, she was an utterly annoying character, but with the increased freedom, I’m actually seeing even Seraphine being swayed this way and that.

Anyway, judging by the recent conversation, he didn’t seem to be the type to lose control of his libido and poke around (in a sexual sense). …Indeed, when I talked to him a few times before, he didn’t seem to have a bad personality.

More than anything, looking at Seraphine’s reaction, it seemed like the capture was more than halfway done, but they hadn’t yet recovered the scenes… no, they hadn’t formed a relationship between a man and a woman.

Celista’s situation was probably similar to Seraphine’s. Of course, in Celista’s case, the moment he recovered a scene, the capture difficulty would skyrocket, so he would have been forced to hold back for the sake of clearing the game.

And regarding Agnes, it seemed he had gotten moderately close to her, but had no intention of seriously capturing her. As for Natalie, given that he deliberately left Thomas behind, he probably had no intention of capturing her either.

It seemed that forming a harem party was genuinely just about creating the most efficient party for clearing the game, and not specifically about laying hands on the female characters.

‘To be unable to enjoy it, even after transmigrating as the protagonist of an eroge, he’s a more boring guy than I thought.’

Of course, if he tried to lay a hand on me, I’d resist somehow, even if it meant swinging a sword, yeah.

While I was thinking that, Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot and Celista each took rooms on the 3rd floor, where Seraphine’s private room was, and Ethan, Agnes, and I each took one of the empty rooms on the 2nd floor.

“Agnes-yang, could you perhaps tell me which room you’ll be staying in while at the Star Palace? I assure you, I have no intention of being rude. I merely wish to greet you tomorrow morning…”

“Antonio, you know you shouldn’t be staying at the Star Palace either. Stop bothering Agnes-yang and come quickly.”

“Aaaargh! S-Sarah noona! Don’t pull my ear!”

“…Haa.”

…And Antonio, who was still pestering Agnes, exited with Seraphine. It was a truly disgraceful exit in many ways.

‘He wasn’t like that at all in the original story.’

Where did the timid Prince Antonio, who was pushed out of the Imperial Succession Conflict and became neither here nor there, go?

Still, his current appearance was relatively better compared to his gloomy and timid self in the game. I wasn’t sure if even his performance had changed along with his personality in the game.

“It seems we will be staying longer than planned, but should I not contact Master, Young Master Ethan?”

“It’s fine. Father is probably a bit too busy to check every single letter. Let’s contact him once The Hero sets the schedule for this ‘temporary joint expedition’.”

“Understood.”

“You must be tired from all the work today. Go in and rest.”

“…Yes. Young Master Ethan, have a good night as well.”

After that final conversation, Ethan and I moved into our respective rooms, separated by a single wall, and with stumbling steps, I was drawn as if by a spell to the large bed in the guest room.

-Thump.

“Haaah…”

How long had it been since I had pushed my body to such an exhausting extent?

In terms of perceived fatigue, it was almost comparable to the Kraken Subjugation Battle I experienced at the Academy.

It didn’t necessarily mean Machart was stronger than that Kraken; it was just that various things, like being psychologically cornered, had accumulated.

“Ugh, uuuugh…”

Once I lay down on the bed, I didn’t want to get up at all. Even though my body knew I should wash and change before sleeping, especially after sweating so much.

‘Should I just do it tomorrow…?’

If I wake up early tomorrow morning and wash, isn’t it pretty much the same as washing tonight? And I can just change clothes then.

Even if I knew perfectly well in my head that I should do it, my body was in no condition to do anything at all.

So, for now, I had no choice but to surrender my body to the approaching slumber.

‘By the way, what is Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot really thinking…?’

Surely he isn’t actually thinking of taking me as a Demon King Subjugation Force comrade, is he? I’m pretty sure I told him not to do that.

If that were the case, I would have to resist and stop him somehow. A life-or-death Demon King Raid was not included in my happy isekai life.

Perhaps it was already too late to come up with a countermeasure. Even with my mind barely working, I should have somehow made a plan to prevent myself from being included in the Demon King Subjugation Force, but….

-Snore, phew….

The relief of a month-long worry being resolved, combined with the accumulated fatigue in my body, was enough to make me fall asleep, even while carrying a new concern.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Imperial Palace Annex, Seraphine’s private room for the annex.

The Hero Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot, who had entered using the key Seraphine gave him before leaving the Star Palace, was contacting someone through the Magic Orb in the center of the private room’s table.

「Where is that, you said?」

“The Imperial Palace Annex. It’s the second largest castle in the Imperial Capital of the Argentia Empire.”

「The Capital…? Do I really have to go…?」

The green-haired Elf reflected beyond the Magic Crystal Ball for communication made a disgusted face, and Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot also wore an awkward expression at her half-expected reaction.

“I need your strength, Silena.”

「The Capital is where many humans gather and live, isn’t it? I don’t like places like that…」

“Silena…”

Silena’s help was essential for the next 『Luminor Academy』 event, which would arrive in a few days.

Therefore, he had planned to call her to the Imperial Capital as soon as possible and then depart for their next destination together, but the plan began to go awry due to Silena, who disliked crowded places.

‘If I had known this, should I have raised Silena’s affection level more…?’

However, he had already raised her affection level almost completely through normal events, and there was only one way to make her feel more affection for him from here.

That was to sleep with her and build affection through intense physical intimacy.

It was a simple method, even included in Lilgirlchang’s guide, and as it was fundamentally an eroge, it was a very common strategy for gameplay, but….

‘Doing it to that extent, somehow I don’t feel like it.’

He was a being who would have to return to his original world once he defeated the Demon King.

For Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot, rashly forming relationships with the characters of this world before then was an act that pricked his conscience in many ways.

If he chose to remain in this world, he could freely accept the goodwill of the women towards him, but Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot’s choice was already firm.

He had left too much behind in his original world, so he had to return there somehow, and that’s why he had decided not to create ‘people who would be left behind’ in this world.

‘Though it seems there are some girls for whom it’s already too late, even without me directly laying a hand on them….’

Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot recalled the pink-haired Priestess in his mind, but he still reassured himself that it was okay for now.

Still, not crossing the final line as a man and woman. That was the last bit of conscience Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot always upheld.

If it didn’t lead to a direct physical relationship, then the women who had goodwill towards him would also gradually forget him, meet new people, and start new loves.

「Volt, what are you doing?」

“Uh, huh?!”

「…Do I really have to go to the Imperial Capital? Really?」

“…No, you don’t necessarily have to come. Then how about coming to …… in a week instead?”

「…Alright. There are fewer people there, so it’s fine.」

“Okay. Thank you, Silena. See you in a week.”

「Okay, Volt.」

Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot, who had roughly conversed with the expressionless Elf beyond the Magic Orb, withdrew the mana he had been pouring into the Magic Crystal Ball and quietly fell into thought in the room he was left alone in.

Wearing a bitter expression filled with complex emotions that he could never show to others.