episode_0014

“I served as the guardian knight of the Holy Maiden in the past. I simply left because it didn’t seem to suit my nature, and we truly had no relationship, right?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“······.”

Yerina stares at me sharply without saying a word.

Even a slight mistake could freeze me on the spot.

It’s not a metaphor; your whole body literally freezes.

Thinking about it that way makes my head throb with pain.

“It really was nothing. It seems that the Holy Maiden wishes for my return due to my elevated skills.”

“Is that so? Shall we read the contents of the letter? I was wrong, Yujin. I will do better. I will become a good child. I can’t survive without you. Hmm. There’s no need to read further.”

Now my head is throbbing as if it’s splitting apart.

“Tell me honestly what kind of relationship it is. If you tell me, I’ll let you go.”

It’s a lie.

I know well the dialogue written for Yerina.

If I speak, I’m screwed.

“If you keep this up, I can’t help but suspect you’re a spy from the enemy. Cooperate, Yujin. Otherwise, I’ll have to detain you.”

I know everything they don’t suspect.

Seeing their ears, it’s clear they trust me.

The issue lies in Yerina’s ‘trust,’ which differs somewhat from trust in others.

Yerina doubts in order to believe in someone.

And once she harbors suspicion, it continues endlessly, perhaps even eternally.

“Yerina. May I step out for a moment to the outhouse? It’s urgent.”

“Even if you have business here, answer immediately.”

The harem route has disappeared.

Confirming that there is absolutely no hope, I tightly shut my eyes.

Then, I drop the smoke bomb attached to my waist.

Bang!

“Yujin!”

A small mana bomb detonates, scattering smoke all around.

Simultaneously, a chill rushes in from all sides, freezing everything.

Yerina begins to rage.

“Huh?!”

The icy ground under my feet turns into a rough surface with spikes shooting up, freezing my legs.

I can’t move.

I had no choice but to take off the boots Yerina gave me and escape barefoot.

“Why are you running away?!”

A chilling voice pierces through the smoke.

Why am I running away?

This woman is completely insane.

“The smoke lasts quite a while. I should escape during this time.”

No matter how Yerina disperses the smoke with her magic, the smoke bombs I prepared keep releasing smoke continuously.

I take advantage of this opportunity to completely escape the ice cave.

Of course, Palana is an extremely remote place, completely isolated from the outside world.

Yerina will quickly escape the smoke and track me down.

But I have a plan.

I’ve diligently prepared an exit strategy for moments like this.

“Damn it······.”

It’s cold.

I’m hungry.

I feel like I’m going to die.

Dragging the boat alone in the snowstorm, my body feels like it’s going to break apart any moment now.

“She doesn’t seem to be following.”

I successfully escaped from Palana.

Yerina is probably stubbornly searching on foot.

Naturally, she would think I’m trying to escape by taking the mountain path to catch the transcontinental train.

She must be searching the area near the platform, waiting for the train to arrive.

But I chose the sea route instead of the land route.

I opted for the sea route that no boat travels except for the monthly regular transport or external ships.

On my first day here, I asked the craftsman to make me a boat.

He looked at me as if I were crazy.

In secret from Yerina, I filled the boat he secretly completed with cold weather gear, water, food, and all my belongings.

And today, pretending to escape on foot, I immediately launched the boat.

Most people wouldn’t even consider sailing the Arctic Ocean in a small boat rather than an icebreaker.

I aimed to exploit that weakness.

This boat is designed to glide smoothly on ice like a sled.

If blocked by ice, I plan to drag it along, float it back in the water, and head south.

“What a nightmare…”

It’s regrettable that I came here without my shoes.

I never thought I would have to run barefoot, so I didn’t prepare separate boots. I hastily wrapped bandages around my feet, but it still hurts as if my toes could be cut off at any moment.

Looking at the endless expanse of ice makes me sigh deeply.

Ah. My mouth is freezing shut.

I should stop sighing.

After about a week of sailing, I managed to reach a beach on the northern continent.

Just descending a bit made the weather feel so warm.

Even though it was below zero, it felt like a scorching summer.

It seemed like Yerina’s influence had reached this far, with wanted posters bearing my face plastered everywhere.

Eventually, I quickly got a ticket for the transcontinental train and made my way down to the southern continent.

It seemed safer to escape to a place beyond Yerina’s reach.

At the warm south, I succeeded in escaping from Yerina’s pursuit.

-Arrest Warrant

-Name: Eugene

-Crime: Treason

“What the hell is this now.”

Here, the Papal See is after me.

The noble Saint has accused me.

She claims I tried to rob her and then fled.

Let’s assume that’s true.

“What is all this?”

I accidentally stopped by the post office and saw hundreds of letters piled up with ‘Eugene’ written in the recipient field.

Addresses were varied.

I secretly opened a few letters, and their contents were identical to the messages I received in Palana.

“I wasn’t supposed to be here.”

Jill didn’t track me down.

They were just sending the same letter to every address in the country, in case I received it and returned to Hameln.

They did this hoping for that one possibility.

Insane.

-Eugene. If you see this message, come to Hameln. If you do, I’ll cancel the charges. I’ll pretend there was no treason.

“Oh my goodness, what a surprise.”

I went to the bank and, seeing this note stuck in my passbook, I was startled and ran away.

I never imagined they would touch my account.

If I had withdrawn money without thinking, the Papal soldiers would have rushed in and taken me away in no time.

It’s chilling to even think about it.

Nowhere to go.

In the north, Yerina’s influence is strong, so if I reveal my face, I’ll be bound and dragged back to Palana in no time.

In the south, the Church’s power is overwhelming, leaving me nowhere to hide.

But there is one place.

“Wow, you’re quite famous. W-what did you do to make the Church chase you like that?”

“That’s right…”

The view outside the window resembled a foreign modern city.

As I watched the raindrops hitting the window, I heard a soft laughter from behind.

Yulia, who had just bathed, put on a gown and placed a tray on the table.

Seems like she brought alcohol.

“Oh, I was really surprised.”

“I’m sorry for coming unannounced.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay. You’re staying here. You don’t have to feel pressured. You’re my precious friend, Eugene…”

Yulia readily agreed to hide my sudden return.

Despite rudely leaving Petenbourg after departing from Hameln, I am taking advantage of Yulia’s kindness.

I am exploiting Yulia, knowing she is the only one who knows her true self.

Originally, I intended to deceive and return all heroines to reality.

Facing Yulia, who accepted me without asking for anything in return, my guilt gradually grew.

“Thank you.”

“Th-thank you. Expressing gratitude is much better than an apology.”

I hadn’t considered the perspective of the listener.

Yulia chuckles and hands me a glass of liquor.

The scent is peculiar.

Is this the liquor Yulia mentioned before?

It’s not popular among the public but highly praised by experts.

“Rumor… I-Is it true?”

“Are you saying I tried to abduct the saint? Of course not. Our relationship has soured a bit. So I submitted my resignation, went on a journey, and returned to find things like this.”

Today’s tip.

If you announce a breakup with a certain level of conquest, the other party will stop at nothing to chase after you.

Whether it turns into a scheme or whatever, that’s the gist of it.

By now, Yulia probably realized that Jil is meticulously searching for me in the north.

The harem conquest has already failed.

Now, there are only two options.

Should I challenge the final boss and attempt to achieve Exit Condition 2 with a conquest rate above a certain level?

Or should I return to Jil, clear things up, and start the second round?

“Danger is right up Jil’s alley.”

Even though I have the romantic story all figured out, inside the dungeon, anything could happen unexpectedly.

I might die due to a common dungeon trap before reaching the final boss, and that wouldn’t be surprising.

Yes, let’s go back to Jil.

The conquest with Jil is almost at the stage just before engagement, so if I go back now, I could kiss her within three days and clear things up.

“Hehe.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“Just… I felt like this would happen since we first met. The saint isn’t normal, copying others’ skills shamelessly.”

“Did you think I would give up being a guardian knight?”

“Yes, yes. When Miss Eugene visited Petenbourg and left again. The saint came barging in, demanding Eugene immediately… That’s when I realized. The saint must have made a mistake, causing a rift in the relationship.”

“Hahaha. Thanks for understanding.”

“It’s not about understanding. Miss Eugene truly did nothing wrong. If there’s any fault, it’s just being a bit of a flirt, right?”

I felt sheepish.

Covering my mouth, I smile and clink glasses with Yulia before pouring down the strong liquor.

“Miss Eugene doesn’t discriminate between races, does she? From humans to elves to beastfolk…”

“What? Beastfolk?”

“Weren’t you going to seduce a beastfolk woman in Palana?”

Yulia sends a puzzled look.

But soon, she realizes my mistake, and her expression gradually hardens.

Palana.

Why is that name coming up now?

I never told anyone that I took the transcontinental train to Palana.

“Uh…”

It’s too late to backtrack.

All the pieces of the puzzle had already fallen into place.

With Petenbourg’s intelligence, it would have been easy to find out that I bought a ticket for the transcontinental train.

Yulia knew everything about where I was and what I was doing.

If you have all the information, predicting the future is not that difficult.

No, with Petenbourg’s power, manipulating the future as desired would also be possible.

The hangover remedy Jil took in Petenbourg when she visited.

Who gave it to her?

Jil didn’t even know about the existence of the hangover remedy on the first day, so she wouldn’t have suddenly bought it on the second day.

Someone must have handed it to her before she drank.

It’s the deed of someone benefiting from the rift between Jil and me.

And the postal network that covered the entire continent belongs to a company owned by Petenbourg.

It means Yulia approved spreading Jil’s letter bombs throughout the continent.

That letter must have led to my expulsion from Pallana as expected.

“Since the first time we met, I had a feeling it would turn out like this.”

It wasn’t just a simple intuition.

Julia truly knew.

My future of being chased from the south to the north and eventually fleeing to Petenbourg.

A future where I can’t rely on anyone else and can only ask Julia for help.

Of course, that’s only natural.

Julia herself designed this future.

“Oh, I just happened to know. It’s true. Please believe me.”

I can’t believe her.

I earnestly prayed for Julia to remain a perfect saint.

Feeling a bit tipsy, I set down my glass.

I want to finish this now.

“Alright, I’ll believe you. But what you said earlier, was it sincere?”

“Yes, yes?”

“That I’m a precious friend.”

“Y-yes, it’s sincere.”

“Do you really just want to remain friends?”

“······.”

A moment of silence.

As Julia’s cheeks flushed with alcohol, her eyes glazed over.

Then, knocking over the bottle, she climbed onto the table and began to crawl towards me.

“Y-Yujin was the one who seduced me first. I was shocked and didn’t know.”

“······.”

As Julia grabbed my collar and leaned in close, time suddenly froze.

Like time had stopped, Julia stiffened.

Slowly releasing her grip and standing up, I saw a large system window outside the window.

[Congratulations. You have cleared the game.]

[Escape Condition 1: The capture rate of all heroines must exceed 95%.]

[Escape Condition 2: You must defeat the final boss ‘Drachen’.]

[Settlement in progress.]

[Monsters hunted: 12]

[A-rank bosses: 0]

[B-rank bosses: 0]

[C-rank bosses: 0]

[Hunting score: 315 points]

[Heroine capture rate]

[Jill Diner: 80%]

[Julia Petenbourg: 100%]

[Yerina Frost: 87%]

Once again, the game was cleared with Julia’s ending.

Achieving the escape conditions was out of the question.

Both Jill and Yerina fall far short of the 95% capture rate.

I already knew, but seeing the numbers in front of me only elicited a sigh.

[Failed to meet escape conditions.]

[Returning to starting point in 10 seconds.]

The first round ends so anticlimactically.

Glancing back, Julia is still frozen on the table, staring into empty space.

The perpetrator who ruined the first round stands there motionless.

Approaching her, I whisper in her ear.

“You foolish woman. I manipulated you anyway to return to reality. You’re nothing more or less than a trophy for clearing the game.”

“······.”

Only after everything is over do I enact a timid revenge.

But once the second round starts, she won’t even remember.

However, it seemed like Julia’s eyes moved slightly just now.

Probably just my imagination.

[Returning to the starting point.]

Vision darkens as consciousness fades away.