078 – The Interloper
After parting ways with Ms. Ella, I headed back to the dorms.
I could see the young girl waiting for me in front of my door.
“Meehan!”
There were a few onlookers regarding the young girl with pity, but…
If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it, as they say.
“Shall we go in?”
As if to deliberately spite the people watching me,
I stroked Lillian’s hair a few times and ushered her inside.
“That’s a yes, right?!”
“To what?”
“You’re going to make the Aether Core for me?!”
“…Does stroking your head mean that?”
“Then what *does* it mean?!”
“Just… you’re a little kid, so I thought you were cute.”
“I’m not a kid.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m all grown up.”
“If that’s all grown up, we’re in trouble…”
“Ugh…!”
I dodged this way and that as Lillian Eisold, flailing her short limbs, tried to attack me.
I soon realized she was about to hit me with magic, and calmed her down.
“…Anyway, just make it for me quickly.”
Lillian Eisold, who, whatever the reason, desperately wanted a fourth Aether Core inside her.
To such a girl, I explained that the possible side effects had not yet been fully understood…
“I can take responsibility for my own body.”
This precocious minor was saying that she would take responsibility for what happened to her own body.
She seems to think that even if something goes wrong with her body, now that she has four Aether Cores inside of it, it’ll just be a matter of saying, ‘Too bad, so sad~’ and moving on…
“Let’s say something goes wrong with Lillian-ssi’s body.”
“I would never blame Meehan.”
“What about Lillian-ssi’s father?”
“…Huh?”
“Haven’t you considered Professor Leighton might blame me?”
“…You can just tell him it has nothing to do with Meehan.”
“Professor Leighton is hardly going to believe that. Just a little while ago, students saw Lillian-ssi standing in front of my room. What kind of rumors do you think will spread if something goes wrong here?”
“Uh…”
“I’m already getting flack all day for bringing a minor into my room. Are you trying to add ‘crippled a minor’ to the rumors?”
“That’s…! Th-that’s…! I-It just has to succeed, right…!”
“So, what is this then… Revolution if it succeeds, treason if it fails?”
“Precisely that! Ouch!”
With a *thwack* that echoed, he flicked Lillian’s forehead, then promptly shoved Lillian Isolde out the door.
“Wait… just a moment!”
“Go get the professor’s permission first. I’ll do it then.”
“Ah! I’ll give you a potion! I’ll give you this, so…! Please, just do it…!”
He lightly dismissed the woman’s desperate cries.
Just as he was about to prepare for tonight’s undertaking with Ms. Ella… he realized something.
“Ah, right.”
He had meant to give her a little word of caution regarding those rumors of him being a minor fetishist…
But in the rush to subdue the girl who had barged in and immediately begun plotting treason, he had completely forgotten.
Which meant he should go out and say something, even now…
“Wow… she’s really fast.”
Whether she had truly gone to get permission or not, within seconds, he could see the hallway was already completely empty.
“That’s no mage.”
Since when could any mage move that quickly?
…
The woman, who had been observing the situation from hiding, slowly rose from the bed.
“…!”
True to her word, at precisely 11:30 PM, the woman entered the bathroom…
And began to shed the clothes she was wearing, piece by piece, until finally, a pristine white nude form was revealed before his eyes.
“Kidnapping.”
The ruthless kidnapper had abducted this defenseless woman to this very place.
“Heh…”
The kidnapped woman seemed unperturbed.
Neither did the kidnapper who was carrying out the abduction seem flustered.
*Smooch…*
The woman’s lips met the man’s.
The man, savoring the sensation of soft lips, gently moved his hand over the bed–
*Knock knock knock*
“?”
“I’ll go kill them, Master. Carry on.”
“No no, just a moment.”
The sudden knock seemed to genuinely anger Ms. Isabella, who had been watching with great interest, as she began to walk towards the door.
Quickly scooping up the cat, he decided to remain silent for a moment.
And so, after pretending no one was home for a short while, the visitor who had come to the room seemed to give up and went on their way.
And so…
“Heh…”
“Shhh.”
“It tickles… Heh…”
We were, once again, on the verge of—
*Knock knock knock*
“I swear I’ll kill that son of a b*tch.”
“Hold on…”
Ha…
In this saccharine atmosphere, we were about to indulge in each other.
Yet a third party insisted on sabotaging the situation… shattering the sweet mood into pieces.
“We can do it another time.”
To have our first experience in such an unromantic setting…
Was something that neither I, nor Miss Ella, nor even Isabella wanted.
With lingering regret, I helped Miss Ella into a spare school uniform and slowly walked towards the door.
‘Who’s making such a racket at this hour, seriously?’
As I reached the door and carefully cracked it open…
“…?”
Only an empty hallway greeted me.
*Swish swish-*
For a moment, the abandoned Heart Reaper came to mind, and I frantically scanned my status window for any signs of a presence.
But nothing appeared on the screen. So…
“…”
I understood.
Some lowlife had played a prank on a place where a sacred ritual was supposed to occur and then fled.
‘Maybe I should have let Isabella kill them.’
For this one brief moment, I regretted stopping Isabella from ending them.
“Haa…”
I couldn’t possibly put on a pathetic display in front of Miss Ella.
So, seeing as we finally had some quality time together, I decided to ignore the prank and climbed back onto the bed.
“Heh… guess today wasn’t our day.”
“It seems… that way.”
“Still, now that I’m here, would it be alright if I stayed the night?”
“If you fall into a deep sleep, I can send you back to your room without Miss Ella even knowing.”
“Gasp… you can do that?”
“With Seol’s help, anything is possible.”
Though the mood was ruined, I was still happy to have my beloved by my side.
I was content enough to start chatting.
I told Miss Ella how I’d been doing during our time apart.
Miss Ella recounted the political battles she’d fought.
And then…
“There’s been… a lot of rumors going around lately.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Rumors that Mihan-nim has been intimidating young women and such.”
“Ah, so it reached Ella’s ears too. Honestly… I don’t know what to say.”
“I already know it’s not true. Even though Miss Han loves animals, she’s not the type to go after minors.”
“That’s right… Wait a minute.”
We started talking about the rumors circulating around the Academy these days.
“Actually, this is why I wanted to go public with our relationship.”
“…First of all, I’m not a zoophile.”
“Since most of the students at the Academy are scared of me right now, if rumors spread that Miss Han and I are dating, her name won’t be dragged through the mud with those vulgar rumors anymore.”
“…It’s a kind thought, but I’m not a furry.”
“Of course, Miss Han is so charming… I also felt like other women might keep hitting on you… I wanted to spread the word that Miss Han is my man.”
It was certainly more pressing to clear up the furry accusation than the Miss Han-lolicon one.
Touched by Ella’s consideration, I hugged her tightly first.
“I’m so sorry for being such a mess.”
Thinking about it, it was true.
From Ella’s perspective… one day, rumors suddenly started circulating that her boyfriend was a shotacon, and he was getting a lot of flak for it.
From the perspective of the lover who knows the truth… wouldn’t it be natural to want to do something, anything?
“It’s not Miss Han’s fault, is it?”
Touched by Ella’s thoughtful words, I held her tight.
“..Hee.”
Naturally, I lowered my lips to Ella’s closed ones…
Knock knock knock.
“I’m going to kill them.”
“I’ll go too.”
I will certainly kill that b*stard.
I will certainly dismember the limbs of the prankster so he cannot even think about participating in the sparring match in two days-
Screech-
Opening the door violently, I saw Lillian and Professor Leighton standing in the hallway with surprised eyes and immediately closed the door again.
“Ki…ll?”
The most important thing in this situation is first…
“Hide Ella…!”
First, I needed to hide Ella, who was wearing her boyfriend’s clothes inside my room.
“…Miss Han?”
“Just a moment, Professor…!”
After pushing Ella, dressed in her boyfriend’s clothes, into the bathroom.
And Isabella too, so that she wouldn’t feel lonely.
After making sure there were no traces of a woman inside the room, I let Lillian and Professor Leighton, who had been waiting outside, in.
“Ahaha… I’m sorry. The room was so messy, I quickly cleaned it up.”
From what the Professor said, it seemed that Lillian Isolde and he had a small argument regarding the creation of the 4th Ether Core in her body.
Lillian was adamant about creating the 4th Ether Core in her body.
The Professor insisted that there must be a reason why Miss Han was against it, so she should follow his opinion.
‘…Normally, the reasons for opposition should be slightly different, shouldn’t they? Like, opposing because your child might experience side effects or something…’
Whatever.
The two of them, unable to narrow their differences, ultimately said they had come here to follow my choice.
If possible, they wanted to hear what kind of symptoms might occur.
Precisely, when a fourth ether core formed within the body.
‘…I opposed it because I don’t know what kind of side effects there are, okay??’
What are these people… Do they think I’m some omnipotent god?
How would I know what side effects might occur when four ether cores form inside the body?
I merely, through the game, knew that Lillian Isolde was fine even with three ether cores, so I made the third core for her.
It’s not like I made it because I was certain that up to three were safe, right??
‘Can’t exactly say that… sigh…’
Of course.
Though not a god, being the son of a Goddess, I couldn’t feign knowledge in an area I knew nothing about.
So, just as I was about to honestly explain that up to three ether cores were fine, but there were no cases for four or more and thus it couldn’t be done…
Knock knock.
“Hmm? Did we have another guest scheduled for this hour?”
“Ah, just ignore it. They knock and run away like that.”
Taking the latest case of the doorbell ditcher lightly…
“…Are you being harassed?”
I could see Professor Leyton looking at me with the most serious expression.
“It must be because of that rumor…”
Furthermore…
Following Professor Leyton’s words directly…
I understood that I couldn’t possibly brush it off with something like, ‘The rumor that I’m preying on your daughter has spread, haha’.
Just as I was about to deny that it was absolutely not the case.
“Hmph… I’m alright, but to see Miheon-gun suffering like this…”
“No, no… you shouldn’t be alright, Professor.”
“Hmm?”
“What’s with that ‘Hmm?’ Professor, your daughter is a minor right now, you know?”
“Back in the day, they had children at fifteen.”
“????????????”
Where did the daughter-fool, number one swordsman of the Magic Kingdom, I knew go?