Chapter 973 – Until the Promised Time

000

“Ugh… The head…”

Cleon barely opened his eyes as the headache struck him again.

My body is heavy.

Not because of psychological factors, but because of physical factors.

First of all, the place where he was lying was not his bed.

Wooden floor.

Cleon opened his eyes on the traditional floor of the Eastern countries, made by gluing together wood.

And look around.

To his immediate left, Lyla, and to his right, Cuon was asleep, with their heads resting on Cleon’s shoulder and arm, respectively.

I can feel something heavy on his thighs too.

As I slowly raised my head, what I saw through my blurred vision was a girl with gray hair.

‘Is it Bea…’

After Cleon realized that, he flopped down again and laid the back of his head on the floor, gradually losing strength from his heavy body.

What you see above is the now familiar ceiling.

Even Cleon, who was barely holding on with his throbbing head, could tell what had happened here last night.

It was a drinking bar.

The beginning would have been a simple welcome party for Melusine.

There was also a celebration of what happened in Fairy Village.

If there was a drinking party going on, news would naturally spread everywhere, and even Artis, who somehow caught a whiff, showed up, dragging Fleur with him.

Watching the scene of her drinking her drink, her naturally reliving in Cleon’s head is what she was like in his one-time timeline when he poured her drink to the point of her near death.

Was it because of escaping from the crisis in that timeline, or was it just because Artis likes to make others drink?

Cleon had no way of knowing which one, but in the end, she drank until everyone was knocked down except for Meluzin, who could be said to be the main character yesterday, and Sasha, who was strong at drinking.

Oh, of course, Amelia, who was underage, couldn’t drink alcohol, so she only drank juice.

“Please, from next time… You should drink in moderation… Ugh…”

Cleon was once again thinking about regrets for the unknown number of times, and was about to close his eyes with the intention of falling asleep once again.

“Even if you lie down like that, your body won’t get better, Cleon. You need to get up and move your body!”

Until just before she heard the sign of popularity at her bedside and someone’s voice.

When Cleon slowly opened his eyes again, Melusin, wearing a human-like top and bottom instead of the armor she was wearing, was looking down at Cleon with her hair tied in a ponytail.

As Cleon opened his eyes with difficulty, he tried to ask a nonsensical question, such as whether Melusine was a fairy and could not get drunk, or whether Melusine was particularly strong-

She narrowed her eyes when she saw what was on her body.

“Wait a minute, those clothes…”

“Ah, I referenced your outfit and made it with magic. The size is a little different, but how do you think?”

A white shirt, a black vest, and nearly black pants.

Everywhere you look, it’s the clothes Cleon wears normally when he’s not armed, but the other part looks curved here and there because of the lines of his body.

It may be a characteristic of a woman wearing men’s clothing, but it falls from a slender neck to her shoulders, puffing out her breasts, and accentuating her eighty waist with a belt.

The bottoms also seemed to be the perfect size when Cleon wore them. When Melusine wore them, they seemed to be a little tight in the hips and thighs, but on the contrary, when they went down to the calves, they felt like they were a little too tight.

And that outfit was exactly the same design as the one Cleon was wearing on her body right now.

Cleon managed to organize her thoughts with her throbbing head and put the questions that naturally arose into her mouth.

“Why my costume…?”

“It seemed easier to move around than other people’s clothes. And in many ways, the clothes in this country seem to have a lot of flowy attire… So I guess I could say they don’t suit me.”

“I see…”

It was a reasonable reason, and the pounding in my head got worse when I tried to think deeply, so Cleon was convinced by answering like that.

“…”

“Cleon?”

When Cleon became quiet as he closed his eyes again, Melusine called his name once again.

“Ugh, ah… Sorry… What was that…?”

“Really. I can’t believe that just because I drank a little alcohol, my ability to think is so impaired. Not only did you clash swords with me on an equal footing, but the swordsman who beat me once got hit by the same person?”

At the sight of Cleon, Melusine sighed and shook her head.

‘Even if you say that…’

There is a limit to the amount of alcohol a human can tolerate, and this person consumed it beyond that limit.

I want you to praise me for not dying.

Cleon glances at the two people lying on either side of him.

“Anyway, we need the power of Lyla and Kuon to process the adamantite chunks… So let’s postpone going to the basement of the mine until later and let us rest for now…”

“Huh…? What are you talking about? Of course, I said it would be nice if I could finish work early, but that’s not why I’m asking you to get up now.”

When Melusine answers like that, Cleon opens his eyes again.

“…?”

If you make eye contact with her while she is lying down and remain quiet, she will also tell you that she is dumbfounded.

“Have you forgotten? Didn’t I promise yesterday that I would help you find the ‘sweetness’ of the human world, which was your Majesty’s request?”

“Ah…”

If she talks like that, it seems like she did… Thinking about it, Cleon searches through her memories of last night.

… I don’t remember either.

But there’s no way she would lie.

“You know that, but from the morning like this?”

“Ah! It was said that if you don’t go buy it early in the morning, there is a possibility that it will run out. The scholar in the white coat said.”

“Is it Artis…”

Thinking that it was a story worthy of her, Cleon silenced her for a moment and then-

Write it – haha. And take a deep breath.

Then, he carefully pulls out the arms that were underneath Kuon and Laila, who were lying down, and stands up staggeringly.

When you look at the entire living room, there are alcohol bottles rolling around and the table is littered with snacks.

And the rest of the personnel are seen lying even more miserable.

In fact, Attis, who encouraged Melusin, was not seen among them.

Cleon tried to tidy up a little, but gave up when he saw his companions lying around.

“… I’ll sort it out when I get back. I think they’ll all be upset if I wake them up now.”

While talking like that, he taps his hand and uses purification magic on himself, worried that his body smells like alcohol.

This will make things a little better.

“Then, let’s go. By the way, what kind of store is it?”

“It was a place called Jinmidang.”

Jinmidang?

Cleon, who thought it was a store with a name he had heard of, kept his mouth shut for a moment.

Cleon frowned when he remembered that this was a restaurant he had been to before with Diora.

“… It’s not a dessert shop?”

“It’s okay. They also sell desserts.”

“… Hmm, well, it’s the most famous restaurant in the Eastern country, so that’s natural, right?”

Cleon, who was not well versed in such matters, scratched his head and managed to escape the living room, avoiding the corpses laid out like a minefield.

“Okay, let’s go. If I made a promise, I should keep it.”

001

“I’m sorry! The last one was taken by a customer a little while ago…”

Indeed.

Every little despair like this makes a person stronger.

Cleon trudged out of the store, staring blankly at Jinmidang closing its doors for breakfast.

Melusine, who was by Cleon’s side, seemed to be more relaxed than expected.

I still remember my eyes sparkling as I looked at the Oriental country-style cakes on display, but in the end I wasn’t able to get my hands on them.

“I’m sorry. If I had come a little sooner, I could have survived.”

No matter what she thought, the reason she couldn’t wake up was because she was hungover.

However, Melusine shook her head at Cleon’s apology.

“No. It’s okay. It’s just a sweet treat at best. There’s no need to apologize that much. You can just buy it somewhere else.”

She just smiled as she answered like an adult.

… Cleon was honestly a little impressed by her, who showed a more mature response than any other woman he had ever met.

“… Sorry. Then let’s find another store. I’ll hang out with you until you can find a satisfactory gift-“

“Hehe! It looks like you failed to purchase the dessert I told you about!”

When a woman’s voice was heard loud enough to interrupt Cleon’s words, everyone standing around turned to look at her.

Rather, except for Cleon.

Because I could tell who the voice was without even looking at her head.

“Ah, you…We’re together yesterday.”

Melusine reacts to her on behalf of her Cleon.

And then, the neon woman who spoke was adjusting her glasses, walking over Cleon’s shoulder and forcing her way into his field of vision.

“Artis… What are your intentions?”

“That’s too much. Is it even possible to say that after seeing this?”

Artis said this and waved what she was holding in front of Cleon.

There was an envelope with the word “Jinmidang” Written in Eastern characters, and if you look inside it, the dessert they were trying to get was carefully packaged.

“… Are you showing it to make fun of me?”

“Don’t you think I’m a very bad-tempered woman, Cleon…?”

She reacts to Cleon’s question as if she is serious.

“…”

“Yeah, I guess I’d like you to deny it honestly…”

However, the way Artis harasses people is by using various means to find out the other person’s information and then threatening them with that…

As Cleon kept his mouth shut, thinking about what had happened in her past, Attis sighed.

“Your trust in me is so low. Do you have to have sex once to become Cleon’s true companion?”

“W-what are you talking about!?”

At Attis’s words, Melusin blushes and looks surprised.

Ah, surprisingly, you’re the type that has no tolerance for this kind of thing.

Cleon was thinking absentmindedly, her judgment still impaired due to her alcohol, but then she remembered what Attis had put into her mouth and looked back at her.

“What are you talking about!?”

Cleon also reacted the same way as Melusine.

“Ahaha! Since we’re wearing the same clothes, the reaction is the same! From a distance, I thought it was a couple’s look?”

As if Cleon’s reaction was amusing, Artis laughed out loud and spoke to Melusine.

“This is something I kindly prepared for you in case you couldn’t wake up in the morning to come buy it. So, take it. I’m the one who told the store.”

As Attis said that, she handed what she was holding in her hand to Melusin.

Meluzin took the envelope and looked back and forth between it and Attis before turning her head towards Cleon.

“Cleon… There are many kind people in the human world…”

“No… In this case, I think it’s better to think that there’s something going on…”

Seeing Cleon showing no signs of doubt, Artis chuckled and pulled out a candle from his breast pocket.

“I know very well! It’s okay, Fairy. I plan to collect that debt from Cleon.”

“Why…”

Cleon might mutter something as if it were unreasonable, but Artis used a match to light the candle and took a sip.

He takes a deep breath and exhales it, speaking to Cleon.

“Well, we need to get ready soon, right? Preparing to go catch ‘Leviathan’.”

The expression was a smiling expression, but the eyes were not.

“… Attis, you.”

Cleon comes to mind there.

Attis was her father-

No, she changed, and she met ‘the person who was her father’.

Did that encounter cause something to change in her?

Or did it make her more like herself?

“Now that the Five Elements Festival is over. No matter what you do, there’s no reason to waste time, Cleon. Once we resolve the issues related to adamantite and the divine tree, it’s really time to keep the promise we made when we first met.”

She said that and sat down on the bench near her.

“You are prepared, right? If you dig up the relic sleeping there. It will not stop. All the cogs will move at the same time. The church and you. The great vortex of fate will swallow everything again. Just like the Great War 30 years ago. . No, maybe it’s more than that.”

As if to express her feelings, the candle she had just lit had already burned down to ashes, with only a little bit left.

“For your information… I’ve already made up my mind.”

“Well, go…”

Cleon nods his head heavily at her words.

However, Artis, who made him like that, would rather smile.

“Hehe. What are you so upset about? Don’t worry. Fate and luck will definitely be on our side.”

After taking the last sip, I stuffed the tobacco into the portable ashtray.

She spoke to Melusine.

“It’s better to keep it in a cold place. It’s a perishable food.”

“Ah. I’m thinking of using magic to make it cold. However, I think it would be better to place it in a place where the sun doesn’t enter.”

Melusin nods her head at Attis’ words.

“… I see. Let’s go back to the mansion first. After that, let’s wake everyone up and go solve the adamantite problem.”

“That’s why I came here. One day here is ten days in Fairy Village, so you’d better hurry.”

Saying that, Melusine takes the lead and heads towards the road back to the mansion.

“Attis.”

And Cleon stays there for a while and looks back at Artis.

“Huh? Why?”

Artis answered in a slightly drowsy voice and made eye contact with Cleon.

“You are a colleague.”

“Huh? … Ah! Ahaha! Is that the answer to that earlier?”

Artis smiles.

She nods her head with a somewhat satisfied expression.

“Hehe. I know. He’s serious. I’m sorry for rushing you.”

After hearing Attis’ answer, Cleon quietly shakes her head and runs after Melusine.

Left alone, she took out her second cigarette.