episode_0459

Upon seeing Viscount Hutton vomit blood, the first thought that crossed my mind was how intense it was.

“What on earth was he doing to end up like this?”

I had thought that if it were the Viscountess, she would have easily subdued Viscount Hutton.

However, to my surprise, it seemed like Viscount Hutton was not one to confront head-on, perhaps lacking substance in his style.

“I misjudged him.”

The Viscountess was working on a part that I had never imagined.

No matter how much time they had spent together, living as a couple for years, who would have thought she would go to such lengths as to try to kill someone.

Or perhaps, she was simply releasing pent-up emotions accumulated over the years of living as Viscount Hutton’s wife.

Was Viscount Hutton not faithful to his wife?

In the end, he was facing the consequences of his actions.

“Did… did I vomit blood?”

Gurgle gurgle-

The guests around us started to look in our direction upon hearing Viscount Hutton’s words.

In fact, due to the loud noises we had been making, most people had been glancing at us from time to time.

The sudden act of vomiting blood by the man who had been shouting loudly must have been an undeniable situation.

“Was that what the Viscountess had been scheming all along?”

Viscount Hutton seemed dazed, unable to believe that he had vomited blood.

Fortunately, one thing was certain – he had not consumed any tea since arriving here.

It would have been a strange misunderstanding if he had drunk tea here and ended up with a bizarre assumption.

“You look unwell. Instead of entertaining such absurd thoughts, you should focus on your well-being.”

“Why am I doing this?”

“Why are you asking me that? We’ve only met a few minutes ago.”

“Why would I vomit blood? There’s no reason for it.”

It is common for people to neglect their health when they are young, assuming that their bodies will remain healthy forever.

Viscount Hutton, being an ascetic, probably did not pay much attention to his health.

“Why make a fuss about vomiting blood? Just go see a healer.”

“Oh! Right. I should go see a healer.”

Do I have to explicitly tell him to go to the hospital like a child?

Especially to Viscount Hutton?

“Let’s meet again later to discuss today’s events.”

Perhaps the thought of being able to get better by seeing a healer brought him back to his senses.

Despite showing a frightened expression and trying to play it off later, Viscount Hutton lowered his voice and continued, pretending as if nothing had happened.

“Why are you listening to me? If you don’t want to meet again, that’s fine. But if you come back, I won’t be as polite as before.”

I doubt there will be a next time for Viscount Hutton.

Did the Viscountess not consider that he would seek medical treatment from a healer before taking action?

In my eyes, Viscount Hutton was already struggling in the grip of the Viscountess.

“There might be someone close by to the Viscountess.”

Perhaps Viscount Hutton was waiting for an opportunity to make his move before collapsing.

“Indeed, Viscount Hutton couldn’t hold out against the Viscountess for long. The difference in abilities was evident from the start…”

If Viscount Hutton collapses too easily, the Viscountess might deal with him first before moving on to Fran.

It seemed like the time to use another hidden weakness of the Viscountess was approaching.

※ ※ ※

Since the capture(?) of Viscount Hutton, the twins had become more sincere in protecting their territory.

They seemed very pleased to receive praise from me.

When returning after meeting Viscount Hutton, it seemed like a good idea to give the children a doll as a reward for taking care of the house so well.

“Ah!! Why! Only me!!! It’s already the tenth time!!!”

Today, a student who came to reinforce and failed at the 12th stage was crying out in despair.

The students around him couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

Because it wasn’t just his own business, the sympathy was very sincere.

Everyone had experienced what that student had gone through at least once.

“I’m also challenging the 12th stage today….”

Amidst the camaraderie of his fellow’s failure.

“It’s better that way. Thanks to you, the stacks have piled up.”

“Is that so?”

There was someone pointing out that someone else’s misfortune could be an opportunity for someone.

And the student who was swayed by his friend’s words impulsively said,

“Should I challenge it now?”

“Yeah. Before someone else steals the stacks!”

In the end, the student decided to reinforce in an attempt to turn someone else’s misfortune stat into his own luck.

I willingly received the student’s unique equipment and started reinforcing.

“Ugh… Jackpot!!!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With the sound of the hammer impact, the reinforcement was quickly and neatly completed.

“Ah.”

If he had succeeded in the 12th stage, the student’s expression would have changed, but he looked disappointed at me.

I silently took out the unique equipment and handed it to the student.

The student who had lost his enthusiasm didn’t seem like he would reinforce again.

It seemed like he had used up all his energy on the 12th stage failure.

Nevertheless, since he had failed, he would start reinforcing again from tomorrow.

The reactions of the failed students were so similar that most of them were predictable by now.

“Next.”

“Me!”

Ignoring the student who was disappointed by his failure, I immediately found the next student to reinforce.

Normally, they would line up to reinforce, but today there weren’t many people, so they were gathered in a circle, each wanting to reinforce when they wanted.

And the student who volunteered to reinforce next was a friend who had gently persuaded the student who had just failed at the 12th stage to reinforce.

That character was an unpopular character who was opportunistic and often cursed every time he appeared in the main scenario.

But at least being an SSR, he wouldn’t be bad in terms of ability.

At least better than characters like R grade or SR grade that didn’t even get attention from me.

“Please take care of me! This is a lucky item, but can you wear it, sorry?”

“To me?”

“Yes!”

So far, when I put lucky items around me, there were many cases where I didn’t want to wear them because they were often strangely designed rather than pretty. The lucky item that the student brought me looked so ordinary that I doubted if it was really a lucky item.

“Is it like a cuff?”

Is this small piece of jewelry really a lucky item?

“I don’t wear that kind of thing. If you want to wear it, wear it yourself.”

“This is really expensive. If you wear this and reinforce it for me, I’ll just give it to you. It’s a lucky item that you can use permanently, not disposable.”

Lucky items usually become ordinary objects over time or their performance deteriorates to the point of being useless.

If the student’s claim that it is a lucky item that can be used permanently is true, then it must be expensive.

“Hmm.”

“Just hang it on your sleeve.”

Eventually, I hung the cuff at the student’s request.

“Here.”

“Yes!”

“Make sure you succeed.”

The student cheered me with a melancholy expression, having moved away from the sadness of failing at the 12th stage.

‘Kind.’

Or maybe he didn’t realize that he had become a stack himself.

“Thank you! I will definitely succeed!”

“Let’s begin.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The reinforcement began to rise.

The unique equipment that started reinforcing from the 8th stage quickly surpassed the 10th stage and reached the 11th stage without a single failure.

Is the stack really correct?

“Is the lucky item just an excuse?”

Other students might have brought lucky items to make excuses while sucking up to the stack.

Or maybe the lucky item really had an effect.

Whatever the cause may be, what does it matter?

The only thing I had to say right now was:

“Congratulations.”

“Wow!!!!”

“Wow… that worked.”

“Jealous, damn.”

“Congratulations!!”

“Why does it work so easily for them, but not for me?”

I nervously took my own unique equipment, emitting a dazzling light, in my trembling hands.

“Thank you!!”

“Yeah.”

As students enhance their gear, they realize that there are still those who can make it in this world.

What’s wrong with acting opportunistic and sly like that?

Thanks to the newly acquired SSR character with 12 levels, the difficulty of conquering the contaminated zone has decreased significantly.

That student will become stronger with the power of the equipment they just obtained and help eliminate the monsters in the contaminated zone.

“Who’s next for enhancement?”

“Me!”

“Me too, please!”

“Can you keep wearing the lucky item and enhance mine?”

“Since it’s permanent, let’s borrow it for a bit.”

“Feel free. Since I’ve already passed it to the boss, you don’t need to ask me.”

“Thank you!”

The students’ earnest eyes were piercing me as if begging.

I couldn’t help but nod my head in understanding of their earnestness.

“Got it. Just make sure not to spread rumors elsewhere.”

If they find out that I personally wore the lucky item, all sorts of lucky items will be attached to my body.

I absolutely can’t do that annoying thing.

What if it’s actually a cursed item disguised as a lucky item?

Of course, the SSR characters have no reason to deceive me.

But isn’t there a possibility that the students were deceived into bringing a fake lucky item?

“Yes! We won’t spread rumors elsewhere.”

“We’ll keep it among ourselves. Everyone agrees, right?”

“Yeah.”

After making a firm promise among themselves.

They started passing around their unique equipment one by one, and the enhancements began again.

Unfortunately, another 12-level item did not appear that day.

“Sir.”

“Yes, Danya?”

As the students finished enhancing and returned to the dormitory feeling disappointed, Danya quietly appeared and spoke to me.

“I’ve been curious for a while, what exactly are you doing with those kids?”

Come to think of it, I had forgotten, but the reason why Ruya and Danya came to me asking for sponsorship came to mind.

The reason these kids initially wanted to sponsor me.

It was because the items I gave to the sponsoring students caught their attention.