episode_0289

Even after the departure of the carriage carrying the August siblings and Agnes, we divided the remaining people into groups of four and boarded two more carriages.

Fortunately, there were enough carriages available, thanks to some coincidental overlapping destinations or people heading in similar directions.

“I’ll see you at the Academy, Hero. …And if you get too close to Selena, she might get mad when you meet again.”

“I told you that won’t happen. Have I ever laid a hand on anyone until now?”

“Well, you haven’t. That’s the problem. It’s good to be cautious, but it would be nice if you could choose someone soon.”

“It’s not up to me to choose someone, Seraphine.”

“Yeah, that’s right! You shouldn’t pressure the Hero to choose!”

“Yeah. You shouldn’t.”

“That’s why my mother told me not to fall for popular guys… sigh.”

Seraphine boarded the carriage heading to the Imperial Palace with a resigned sigh, and Cerista, who had business in the Imperial Capital, joined her in the same carriage.

I almost blurted out the words “harem protagonist” as I watched from the side. It felt strange to see it up close.

“Please give my regards to Agnes, Lillith.”

“We were just talking a moment ago, Prince Antonio.”

“Well, even so.”

With a strangely relaxed expression, Prince Antonio also boarded the carriage, led by Colt, heading towards the Imperial Capital.

And lastly, the remaining four people’s carriage set off.

It was a somewhat peculiar combination of Gyeommyo, Selena, and me and Edan.

“I apologize for the inconvenience. I couldn’t possibly walk all the way to the Blackwood Territory.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. The Blackwood Territory is on the way to the World Tree Forest anyway. Don’t think of it as an inconvenience.”

Edan probably wasn’t thrilled about having to travel with the Hero, but he wasn’t bold enough to complain about it even in the situation of boarding the carriage.

If it weren’t for Gyeommyo’s consideration, they would have been stuck riding to the Imperial Capital with six people and then had to travel back to the Blackwood Territory in a day.

By that point, it would have been practically the end of summer vacation, and they would have been at the level of returning to the Academy after visiting the mansion.

Anyway, they returned to the Blackwood Territory over three days with the four of them taking turns playing the role of the coachman.

There were no special events over the three days. They encountered a horde of monsters on the first day of the trip, a band of thieves on the second day, and gained a lot of experience points, but fell short of leveling up?

The only peculiar thing was a minor issue where I received the ‘Witch’s Pendant’ before departing from the Witch’s Forest, instead of Gyeommyo.

“Maychilling? What is this?”

“This is our tribe’s pendant… I received a lot of help from Rosewood this time, so…”

“I think the Hero or someone else should…”

“But I still want to give it to Rosewood… Please accept it…”

“…Alright. Thank you for the gift, Maychilling.”

“Yes, th-thank you for accepting it…!!”

And so, in this way, the final reward of the ‘Secret of Lala’ event ended up in my possession.

Of course, I never actually intended to keep it, so I tried to hand it over to Kyetmya on the first day of the night shift, but she refused from her side. She said it didn’t seem right for her to accept someone else’s gift.

“It’s a gift for you, so if I carry it around, what will Lala think of you and me? I don’t really need it, so just use it yourself.”

“But isn’t the Witch’s Pendant an ultimate equipment grade? Without this, there won’t be any lower-tier items to use in the final boss battle.”

“I also have a necklace from Liria, so it’s okay. And besides, the reason I asked you for help this summer vacation was not because I wanted double the reward, but because I wanted to help Liria and Lala completely. I didn’t aim for any reward, and I have no regrets.”

“…Alright, fine. Don’t bring it up again later.”

So, unexpectedly, I ended up with the ultimate equipment, the Witch’s Pendant, in my hands.

Since the stat adjustments were decent, I decided to carry it around for now. It seemed that accessories didn’t need to be worn on the body to have the same effect as if they were equipped.

Thus, after finishing all the events of the summer vacation, which was truly filled with high-density incidents, I returned to Blackwood Manor on the first day.

After completing all the schedules and before falling asleep in the waiting room, I seriously pondered the plans related to Edan.

“Well, now….”

How can I create an atmosphere where I can have a moment with Edan…no, where I can share a bed with him?

As I mentioned before, this is definitely not a story of me wanting to be with Edan. It’s just a situation that I have to deal with now, so I’m preparing for it.

Now that I no longer need to maintain the status of a saint, and the power left to me only constrained me. The power of a saint only brought obligations and responsibilities, with almost nothing gained in return.

I am not someone like Cerista, who would say, “If I have the qualification to be by the hero’s side, that alone satisfies me.”

So, to get rid of the power of the saint, it was necessary to get rid of the qualification of the saint that I had, and the only person who could meet the conditions to do so was Edan.

Doing something like self-elimination through masturbation or losing my first experience with another man was an act that my pride as a unicorn in my past life could never tolerate.

“The problem is the situation. I need to create a plausible and natural situation as much as possible.”

It was not my intention to remove my virginity through the love route, nor was I like a female who was frustrated because I couldn’t have sex. It was natural to reject any misunderstanding from Edan.

“If only I had the incense I used in the Star Palace back then….”

If I had that, I could naturally induce an atmosphere for a first time, but sadly, that was all I had back then. I should have saved it if I had known.

The only item that could provide a similar effect was alcohol. This was also an ingredient for the “appropriate excuse” that had been used frequently since my past life.

“Should I ask Dietmayer to secretly bring out some strong liquor?”

After bringing it to Edan and suggesting we have a drink together, if I subtly got drunk and collapsed, wouldn’t Edan also be unable to resist his desire and try to mix his body with mine?

I briefly entertained that thought in my mind, but soon abandoned it. Tempting with alcohol didn’t seem like a good idea in many ways.

Once you’ve crossed the line once, using the power of alcohol to experience your first time is a somewhat hesitant method for a unicorn. There was a possibility that, due to the alcohol, the precious moment of the first experience that a virgin should always cherish might not be remembered properly.

And somehow, these days, if it were Ethan, even if I were drunk and disheveled, he wouldn’t try to take advantage of me, but rather would probably tuck me in and take care of me. If that were to happen, I probably wouldn’t be able to get up for a while due to self-loathing.

“It doesn’t make sense for a servant to ask their employer to have a drink together.”

It was a behavior that was practically absurd in many ways, so this side of things was put on hold.

So, in the end, the only excuse that seemed somewhat useful was:

“Rewarding Ethan for winning the duel in Daelon…that seems to be the only option.”

Using the excuse of rewarding Ethan for winning the duel with Harold.

This excuse would probably be enough to use as a plausible reason. After all, various rewards have been given to Harold after duels with Ethan as a means of reward.

Moreover, it was currently summer vacation, so Harold was staying at the mansion, making it possible for Ethan to duel multiple times a day if he wanted to.

Ethan had returned from the Witch’s Forest after several hunts, gaining a fair amount of experience points. Before that, he had even won almost one-on-one against MacHart in battle.

It might be difficult to achieve a complete victory, but facing a full Harold in ten or twenty matches, could he not win at least one match…that was my guess.

“Even the idea of a second-year academy student winning against a Sword Master is an unbelievable story.”

Because it was unbelievable, there was value in giving a reward that matched.

Ethan probably wouldn’t think it strange. Even if I were to say that as a reward for defeating his father, I would give him my first experience.

“Since it will be four days before returning to the academy….”

Somehow, within ten days, no, within four days, Ethan had to win against Harold in their duel.

Because it was not a good idea to return to the academy with this annoying virgin label.