episode_0008

“Whew. I thought you were trying to commit suicide.”

“S-suicide? N-no! Not at all!”

From her flustered explanation, a sense of bewilderment emanates.

Of course, from the moment I saw her face, I realized it wasn’t a suicide attempt, but that was a secret I decided to keep.

Today must be the first time I’ve seen Julia Fentenburg in this place.

“But, how did you know that I am Julia Fentenburg?”

“You’re famous. You’ve been featured in magazines several times. I always kept an eye out for you.”

“Ahhhh!”

She fumbled around my face, and in an instant, Julia’s face turned red with embarrassment.

Seemingly realizing the state she was in.

Unlike in magazines, her tousled messy black hair was a mess, emphasizing dark circles under her eyes as there was no makeup.

Clumsily tugging at her hoodie, she looked like a common awkward girl, far from the charismatic Julia one would imagine even if they knew her.

“I-I think I should go now!”

“Go on in.”

“Uh, um… Excuse me…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll keep today’s meeting a secret. We’ve never met today.”

“Th-thank you…”

Bowing. Bowing. Bowing.

Julia quickly moves away, bending her waist 90 degrees three times after the second.

It was a brief encounter, but it was enough.

I have already made my mark.

I have seen your true self.

But instead of being surprised, I find myself liking your true self even more.

And I have no intention of spreading this to others.

Just subtly conveying this intention would likely make Julia feel favorably towards me.

As a smile of satisfaction starts to form, I catch myself.

“Right. Your name.”

The fact that I didn’t give her my name.

***

“Tsk. They knew everything we did. Sinister bastards.”

Thud thud.

Walking down the hotel corridor, there is a sense of displeasure in our hurried steps.

Dressed in suits, the men who welcomed us to Fentenburg by preparing a carriage on the first floor this morning must be the reason.

Yes. Fentenburg already knew we had come a day earlier and were touring around, despite checking in under an alias.

They even knew which room we were staying in.

Their level of information is almost chilling.

“From now on, we can’t even hold hands.”

“I know. At least let me hold it in the elevator…”

“Are you nervous?”

“Of course I’m nervous. Daring to challenge the mixed-blood lineage of the Jolbu…”

The anger is palpable, almost suffocating.

It could lead to a fight.

A while ago, a letter arrived at Hameln’s mansion.

It contained a summons.

It was a formal summons complete with all the necessary forms for immediate submission to the court.

“Unbelievable, right? That I imitated Fentenburg’s techniques? Huh?”

The summons stated that Jill Diner’s healing magic infringed upon Fentenburg’s rights.

With only the summons arriving without any other letters, the intent was clear.

It was a threat.

Jill immediately tore up the summons, dismissing it as absurd, but she had to quickly book a train ticket to Fentenburg.

Because it was true that Jill had clearly infringed upon Fentenburg’s rights.

In games, these are elements labeled as twists, but to me, who knows all the outcomes, Jill appears like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse, bellowing in anger.

“Ugh. My head feels like it’s going to split. Is Eugene okay? She drank more than me yesterday.”

“She’s fine. She handles alcohol quite well.”

“I didn’t do anything weird when I was drunk, did I? Right?”

“No. You slept soundly.”

“Thank goodness…”

Well, I did do something weird.

Like mimicking a cat.

Just before falling asleep, I had to struggle a lot to avoid being kissed as he tried to kiss me by holding my cheeks tightly.

As I kept trying to escape, he even wrapped his legs around mine and clung onto me.

I want to receive the kiss while sober.

Feeling embarrassed in real-time, I endured the urge to directly face his questioning expression.

“We have arrived. Allow me to guide you to the top floor.”

Soon, as the carriage stopped and we stepped outside, a tall skyscraper came into view.

It was a building inspired by the Empire State Building.

Despite feeling a sharp pain in my neck from tilting it upwards, I swallowed my saliva, overwhelmed by its grandeur, but soon composed my expression as if nothing had happened.

Throughout the ascent to the top floor, which was over 50 stories high, the elevator remained silent.

To think that facilities drawing both water and mana were operational up to the 50th floor.

Typically, costs for such auxiliary facilities increase exponentially once surpassing 10 floors, making buildings over 50 stories rare, with even those exceeding 20 stories being extremely uncommon.

Even for someone like me who knows all the in-game settings, this extravagant display of wealth is jaw-dropping.

Ding…

The elevator slowly came to a stop, and the doors opened.

Inside, a clean, entirely gray room devoid of any furniture greeted us.

It felt as stark as entering a parking lot.

Turning around in a chair, a sharp-eared woman wearing glasses revealed herself.

“Yulia Pentenburg…”

A cold expression.

Her gaze seemed to convey that she saw no value in conversing with inferior beings.

Clad in neat office attire, the elven woman exuded an intimidating aura that made one shrink just from meeting her eyes.

At first glance, Jill appeared confident, but upon closer inspection, there were plenty of signs of nervousness.

For instance, fidgeting fingers brushing against the edge of her skirt, slightly lifting and lowering her left heel, consciously adjusting her shoulders and subtly twitching… The list goes on endlessly.

‘Wow. She could easily be called a witch.’

Those unfamiliar would likely think Yulia is a charismatic girl crush type.

In reality, Yulia, known for her charisma, is actually quite adept at concealing her true introverted nature.

“If we hadn’t met by chance yesterday, I would have been so intimidated.”

She seems like a completely different person from the woman I met yesterday.

Yulia doesn’t have a separate stylist based on her personality.

She seems to handle makeup and fashion styling on her own through self-study.

Truly a genius girl.

However, it seems her genius doesn’t extend to social skills.

“What is this?”

“…Thud.”

Without a word, Yulia threw a bundle of papers onto the desk.

Infuriated by her rude behavior, Jill approached and picked up the paper.

Perhaps the tide turned from this moment onwards.

Or maybe Jill’s defeat was sealed from the very beginning when she obediently came to Pentenburg.

“An agreement?”

As Jill flipped through the pages, her expression gradually twisted.

Upon a cursory glance, the terms written in the agreement were as follows:

– Jill Diner acknowledges that during the development of healing magic, the Pentenburg Foundation has the rights to the core principles of the elixir, which she plagiarized.

– Jill Diner will pay 90,000 gold to the Pentenburg Foundation to purchase the commercial use rights (license) of the core principles of the elixir.

– Yulia Pentenburg permanently agrees to the contents of the agreement. If these terms are violated, the Pentenburg Foundation will pay Jill Diner 10 million gold.

In summary, it translates to ‘I stole your technology, but if I pay you fairly now, you’ll let it slide.’ It might sound a bit shameless, but considering that Jill did indeed steal the technology, it’s a rather lenient response.

Though coercive, the pricing of the technology is not unreasonably high; it’s set at a fair level.

Furthermore, he promised to negotiate the terms forever, fearing that the saint’s honor would be compromised.

As expected, she didn’t just act tough on the outside; in reality, she was an angel with a heart as soft as can be.

A woman like this should be the saint.

Yet our saint······

“What, what nonsense is this? After seeing the lawsuit and being dumbfounded, you come here and spout even more absurdities! You claim I illegally used Elixir’s techniques······!”

She raged in a half-hearted manner.

However, Yulia paid no attention to such outbursts, sitting quietly with her eyes closed.

As if there was no value in conversing.

Indeed, Yulia had no need for further conversation.

The game was already over.

The agreement thrust upon Jill was truly the final warning.

If she were to reject or request modifications, the lawsuit would be submitted to the court as it is.

It would require several validations, likely becoming a lengthy process, but Jill’s defeat was already decided.

The money involved is one thing, but the biggest blow would be the saint’s tarnished honor.

Jill had no choice but to sign the agreement here.

“Ugh······. This is truly humiliating! I’ll have to think about it a bit more for now!”

Thud.

Jill, who had placed the crumpled paper on the desk, turned around and walked away, tapping her feet.

Seems like she has decided to continue her futile resistance.

Following Jill, Yujin turned back momentarily.

“Hurry up and follow me, Eugene.”

“Yes.”

In a brief moment, Yulia flashed a faint smile at me.

As soon as Jill turned around, that smile vanished.

It seems that the stay in Pettenburg will become much more enjoyable.

For Jill, it will be nothing short of a nightmare.

“Oh, um. What about the saint······?”

“Don’t worry. She fell asleep drunk. She seemed to be under a lot of stress, so I had to calm her down as she was on the verge of passing out.”

“Ah, ahaha. You’ve been through a lot.”

“Hahaha.”

At Yulia’s awkward laughter, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter as well.

It’s that kind of laughter where one consciously restrains themselves, fearing how they might appear to others, like nerds who are overly conscious of how they sound when laughing.

Ironically, the more you try to suppress it, the stranger it gets.

“Drink, drink up. This is, uh, very expensive liquor.”

“Mm. 30-year-old Elisha? Whiskey, I’m not familiar with it.”

“Ah. Ahh. If you don’t know, 30 years means it was aged in oak barrels for 30 years. The reason why a 30-year-old Elisha is impressive is that they use a mana compression technique not used by other companies······.”

I understand.

I understand very well.

Even though I wrote that line, I was afraid you might not know.

Nevertheless, I listened to Yulia’s enthusiastic explanations and chimed in occasionally.

Not stumbling over words when talking about something you love is the key point.

“Oh, ah. You, you only talked about me too much. It must have been boring······.”

“No, it was very interesting. I enjoy listening to things about fields I’m not familiar with.”

“Is that so? Then, shall I tell you about other labels made by the same company as Elisha that I mentioned earlier?”

“Haha······. That sounds great······.”

“There’s another one made by that company called Trium, which isn’t very famous among the public······.”

Oh.

This line wasn’t written by me.

In a moment of distraction, a whiskey tasting session began.

‘No matter how many times I look at it, it just doesn’t match my usual image.’

Although stumbling, Yulia is a person with a lot to say.

Contrary to her reputation for being cold and intimidating, she also has a warm heart.

Perhaps witnessing Yulia bursting into laughter and chatting is a sight that only I can see in this world.

It took quite a long time for even the game protagonist to witness Yulia in this light, but thanks to meeting her by chance yesterday, I was able to break through all at once.

“I, I really didn’t think we would meet again. When you mentioned being the Holy Maiden’s escort knight, I was quite surprised.”

“I was also taken aback. I never imagined seeing such a side of the esteemed Yuria Petenbourg.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have shown such a dreadful appearance!”

“No, not at all. It’s friendly and very nice. I find the current Yuria more beautiful and likable.”

“M-me, really…?”

Yuria seemed moved, tears welling up in her eyes.

Indeed, the sincerity behind finding the current Yuria better was genuine.

After all, rather than a flawless superhuman, this kind of clumsy charm was more appealing.

“Haah… Th-this is the first time. Conversing with a human so flawlessly like this…”

“Is that so? I heard you’re over 300 years old. Haven’t you met many people during all this time?”

“Oh, no… I, I left the elf society long ago because I didn’t like it there. Then I self-studied magical engineering. Maybe because I’m not very bright… Even after 300 years of studying, there’s always more to learn…”

Not very bright.

Yuria wouldn’t know.

The fact was, by self-studying, she had come up with countless theories stemming from papers she anonymously submitted. Despite studying for 300 years, there was always more to learn because she was personally expanding the horizons of magical engineering. Due to all those monumental papers being submitted anonymously, no one could claim rights, allowing many to benefit from advancements in magical engineering at a low cost.

In essence, she was a genius girl surpassing even Jill.

“I, when I came to my senses, I found cities around my research institute. They all accepted me as their lord… Powerful nations ask for potions and technology… Ah. By the way, all potions and elixirs here were developed by local pharmacists! I have nothing to do with them! But why do they keep associating me with Petenbourg’s elixirs?”

“It must be quite burdensome for you.”

“Indeed, it is! I’m so scared that I can’t even meet people. If I lose my composure, what will happen? In some countries, I’m ranked first among girls that others want to resemble when they grow up. It’s so difficult and burdensome to maintain this image that I feel like I might throw up…”

“I am delighted to see this side of Yuria. Perhaps no one feels disillusioned. Still, if your image suddenly changes, many will be surprised… Um… How about gradually changing your image?”

“Gradually?”

“Yes. Slowly altering public perception. From a stern and unapproachable witch to a familiar lady.”

“T-that! How do I do that?”

They stayed up all night talking.

For Yuria, it was the first time having such a comfortable conversation, so she probably didn’t realize how time flew by.

Of course, it was not a boring time for me either.

Yuria in her gloomy mode had a magical charm that automatically made one feel better just by looking at her.

Perhaps even if they shared just one common hobby, they could talk enthusiastically all day long.

“The s-sun is rising.”

“I should be going now. It’s time for the Holy Maiden to wake up. It was enjoyable. See you again.”

“A-again? Really?”

“Yes. Um, am I being a bit forward? Should I stop now?”

“N-no, no, please stay. Or rather, come back. I enjoy talking with you, Eugene…”

They must have made another appointment.

With a slight wave, like a dog seeing off its master leaving for work, I smiled at Yuria, who was watching quietly, and left.

Yulia’s bright smile lingered even after the elevator doors closed.

“Why did you come down from there? You seem happy. Did something good happen?”

Oh, damn.

This is screwed up.

“······.”

“······.”

Clatter, clatter.

The first-class train compartment, occasionally swaying, was filled with silence, endlessly quiet.

With eyes heavily bloodshot, I gazed out the window, receiving no acknowledgment in return.

Despite attempting to conceal it with makeup that I rarely applied, the reddened skin around my eyes was blatantly visible.

“I heard you got the hangover cure.”

Luck wasn’t on my side.

Due to taking the hangover cure before drinking, I woke up drunk and fully awakened after just an hour.

Confirming my absence, Jill intuited my whereabouts and waited in front of the building.

He stood still for hours through the night.

Successfully catching me off guard.

That morning.

Jill quickly signed the agreement, filled out a 90,000 gold check, tossed it onto Yulia’s desk, packed his belongings, and caught the first morning train, arriving at this moment.

While earlier he had been shouting as the compartment departed, now it was silent.

Certainly not a good sign.

Refusing conversation indicates reaching the peak of Jill’s anger.

It might last for over two days.

“I’m dead tired.”

I’m equally furious.

Attempting to conquer Yulia, I ended up being dragged out in just one day.

Still, where did I let my guard down with Yulia?

…But finding solace in that thought is quite a blow.

“There’s no other way.”

Lately, Jill’s conquest has been quite lackluster.

If conquest success rates were displayed now, they’d probably be around the mid-70s.

It escalated quickly to that point, but progress has stagnated for months now.

Marriage is out of the question, and we haven’t even kissed yet.

“I might have to resort to some regrettable actions.”

They say you realize the importance of someone’s presence most when they’re absent.

A special prescription is definitely needed.