Chapter 30

The Emperor stopped him. So he couldn’t go.

‘Don’t give me that. He went in the original.’

Frederick and Arianne had participated in the investigation of the County in every single route. That was because, in other routes, the entire Imperial Knights and Holy Knights moved together! Even then, the Emperor had tried to stop him just the same. Back then, Frederick had rejected the Emperor’s words, saying something like this:

“If I back out now, I become a shameless man who drives his subordinates into the jaws of death while staying in a safe place alone. Does Your Majesty truly wish for a Swordmaster, the face of the Empire, to be such a coward?”

So that was all just made-up fluff in the end? Was he actually the type of guy who didn’t give a damn if his subordinate knights died or not, as long as he could dump the work on someone else…?

Of course, there was a different feeling between the entire Imperial Knights heading to a deathtrap while he alone stayed behind, versus being one of the few selected to stay behind from the start. Still, no matter how you looked at it.

‘To think a man called a Swordmaster would use the Emperor as an excuse to slip away.’

And of all people, to put Arianne in his place!

“Then we shall await good news in the capital. Naturally, the most important thing is returning in one piece, so do not overexert yourselves.”

“We understand.”

“If things really go south, I’ll come even if I have to sneak out!”

“That’s desertion, Commander…”

Regardless of whether my soul had left my body or not, we boarded the carriage, leaving Frederick’s farewell behind.

“If we follow this path straight, we will reach the Garain County.”

The road to the Garain County was quite rugged and long, requiring us to camp out or stop at inns in various villages to get some sleep, but today was finally the last day of that.

“We apologize, but we can only accompany you this far. We shall pray to Ralphican that the remainder of your journey is peaceful.”

The servants who had been attending to our needs and carrying our luggage decided to part ways with us here. Leaving only the essential supplies for survival, we decided to stay at an inn in a village near the Garain County tonight and set off early the next morning. After catching a brief nap in the inn room to relieve the fatigue of the journey, I stepped outside to get some fresh air.

Ding!

Ding!

Now that the County was only one village away, the quiet chat window was acting up again. And the thing that had been quiet for a while due to the plot-heavy incidents…

‘The dating sim events are starting back up, too.’

For convenience, I called them the Arianne route, the Saintess route, and so on, but in any route, affection events could occur anytime as long as the protagonist was with a heroine. In other words, if there was a change in a heroine’s affection, the route itself could change. So, as annoying as it was, I had to constantly keep them in check so the protagonist wouldn’t stray into another route.

‘Looks like almost everyone here has evacuated, too.’

I heard that evacuation orders had been issued for all villages in close proximity to the Garain County. Except for a few shops, most houses were empty, making the streets feel beyond deserted—they were eerie.

Only a cold wind passed through me, shaking the trees that had lost nearly all their leaves. A night street with no one around…

Doesn’t it look like the perfect setting for a man and a woman to stroll together, sharing secret, deep-seated stories and falling for each other?

I could hear Arianne and the protagonist’s voices from the screen. And in the distance, I could see the faint silhouettes of a man and a woman.

‘Found them.’

That’s right. I was currently out here to block Arianne’s affection event. If I just left this alone…

“If something goes wrong for me in the County, please bury me, Vice-Commander. I ask for the graveyard of the Imperial Knights, not my family’s.”

“Sir Arianne.”

“I am not joking. My father said that if I die without becoming a Swordmaster, I don’t even have the right to be buried in the family plot.”

“Who on earth would say such a thing…!”

“My father.”

“…”

-Time for a ‘Tahllula’¹

• LOL.

Ah, was it not this event? Anyway, if left alone, an event worth 15 affection points would play out. Arianne’s affection had already risen quite a bit because I failed to block an event in the last village. Which meant I had to manage it diligently starting now.

-Ah, the mood was so good, but Belita shows up again lol.

-She’s here… the Blocking Master…!

I wanted to rest, too. Traveling all day in a carriage on unpaved roads felt like it was wrecking my spine. Since this had been repeated every day until we got here, the accumulated fatigue was beyond words. They managed to recognize me even from a distance where I looked no bigger than a bean and approached me.

“Saintess. Did I not tell you to always be accompanied by at least one person when you go outside?”

Arianne scolded me in a rapid-fire manner.

“I didn’t want to disturb everyone while they were sleeping. You must be tired.”

“That is our job. If you don’t like it, you simply shouldn’t come out. Let us go back inside.”

“Sir Arianne is right. It would be best for you to sleep for tomorrow’s sake.”

How cold. If I don’t come out, affection levels will rise—do you think I can actually sleep? I’m going to stick right between you two until you both go inside. To signal that I wanted to stay outside longer, I sat on a nearby bench, and Arianne let out a sigh. Still, when I patted the spots on both sides of me, they sat down with me.

-Lol, she sat right in the middle to split them up.

‘Since I’m at it, should I ask something I’m curious about?’

I spoke toward Arianne, who was lightly treading on the fallen leaves on the ground.

“I didn’t expect Sir Arianne to come with the investigation team.”

I slipped in a hint of “Why did you volunteer for this?” to gauge her reaction. However, the answer that came back was quite unexpected.

“Well, I figured I was the most suitable person to attend to the Saintess, since she’s a lady. I noticed that everyone drafted from the Church was male, so I felt I should go.”

Strictly speaking, everyone here except for you is a man… Not that I could say that out loud.

“That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“Well, it’s not a side of me most people expect.”

She really had a knack for making people run out of things to say.

-Arianne is the god of self-objectification;;

-That’s why you can’t hate her even if she’s prickly lol.

Watching the two of us, the protagonist suddenly let out a chuckle.

“What do you find so funny?”

When Arianne reacted as if she were offended, the protagonist shook his head.

“No, I just realized how much has changed. It hasn’t even been that long.”

“That is true. The person who was… the Vice-Commander’s maid has become the Saintess. I feel I’ve committed many impolite acts without even realizing it. I pray you find it in your heart to forgive me before Ralphican.”

“The same goes for me. I am sorry.”

As Arianne and the protagonist bowed their heads in sincere apology, I waved my hands dismissively.

“Impolite? Not at all. Neither of you need to feel that way.”

‘To be honest, it was more comfortable back then.’

Since my status rose, the servants had been fussing over me excessively, which was quite a burden for a modern person like me.

‘The convenience is nice, but… there’s too much interference.’

I preferred being alone.

“Especially when I think about how I almost handed the Saintess over to the guards, it still makes my blood run cold…”

Arianne wrapped her arms around her shoulders as if she felt a chill.

“Come to think of it, it feels silly to ask this now, but why did you pretend to be a knight in Lanta Village?”

“…In the dream I saw, the magic beasts struck the north first. So, I thought I should evacuate the people there in advance. But who would believe the words of a commoner maid?”

“Is that why you stole and wore a knight’s uniform?”

“Exactly.”

“You truly struggled a lot on your own.”

-It’s a bit sad thinking about her hiding and putting on that knight’s uniform.

-Let’s be nice to our Belita.

‘To think I’d receive sympathy from Arianne, of all people…’

I was doing all sorts of things just to survive. Acting like I knew the future, and volunteering for an expedition that takes over a month just to resolve the contamination. My mouth felt a bit bitter.

“Do you perhaps see my future as well?”

“I wonder. I only see things in dreams, and I don’t have them often.”

“Then, if you do see something, could you let me know?”

Her voice, which had been playful until a moment ago, had turned serious, and her eyes were filled with a sense of desperation. Arianne pressed me, clearly anxious.

“I want to know if I will be able to become a Swordmaster.”

I was about to claim I didn’t know, but the protagonist, noticing my discomfort, spoke up first.

“Sir Arianne, you already possess skills that are difficult to achieve at your age. If you continue training like this…”

“Age is not important! I must, I absolutely must become one…”

-Sudden outburst lol.

-Why is she so obsessed with being a Swordmaster?

-I feel like there’s a sad backstory here.

Oh boy. I knew this flow. Regardless of the situation, the conversation was shifting toward an affection event. I thought they wouldn’t do it since I was sitting right here.

‘It was like this with Mina, too.’

The affection events continued whether I was there or not. The protagonist carefully asked Arianne, who was trying to catch her breath while unable to hide her agitation.

“I’ve wanted to ask for a while—why are you so obsessed with reaching the level of a Swordmaster?”

“Obsessed… you say?”

Arianne looked slightly shocked by the protagonist’s words. It seemed she hadn’t even realized she was obsessed.

“Does it look to you like I am obsessed?”

Ding!

“I think I need to choose carefully here?”

-For real.

-If you pick wrong, affection will hit rock bottom.

-I want to see a walkthrough…

-Gasp, don’t say such scary things.

-Je-won, look over here.

“The first one is to comfort her, but the second one is to point it out sharply.”

-Yeah, sounds about right.

-Isn’t Arianne a cool-headed person? Maybe she’d prefer being called out.

-Half-hearted comfort might backfire.

“Considering her original personality, calling her out is the right move.”

Mo Je-won agonized a bit more before finally choosing the second option. The protagonist leaned in slightly toward Arianne and locked eyes with her. When her pupils met his warmly settled golden eyes, they shook.

‘That’s all well and good, but doing this from both sides of me is a bit…’

-LMAO look at the Saintess’s face.

-She looks so uncomfortable lol.

-Her expression is rotten lol.

-But she brought this on herself, didn’t she?

Was it that obvious? As soon as I quickly wiped the expression from my face, the protagonist spoke cynically.

“Very much so. However, I couldn’t tell if that was because of you or because of someone else. Sir Arianne, do you truly want to become a Swordmaster for yourself?”

“…Are you saying it looks like I don’t want to become a Swordmaster?”

“Wait, why!”

Yeah, I had a feeling he’d get it wrong.

‘Good thing I stayed quiet.’

“Sir Hereis, really. You’ve gone too far with your words.”

-Huh?

-???

I took my eyes off the protagonist, who had his mouth open in bewilderment, and spoke in a soft tone.

“I haven’t known Sir Arianne for long, but…”

I couldn’t ignore it when the right answer was right in front of me.

‘I’d be an idiot not to take this opportunity.’