Chapter 133: Strange And Unexpected Occurrence

POV: Astan

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Well, I’m not going to get distracted by what the Doppelganger is doing.

What matters right now is Lys, who’s standing right in front of me.

I wanted to be warm and affectionate with her, too, but before I do that, I need to check a few things.

________________

Emotional: 59%

Carnal: 61%

Rational: 55%

________________

Oh! Instead of going down or staying steady, they went up.

This is a surprise in more ways than one.

I mean, the Rational percentage is within my expectations, given that she reached a positive conclusion that would lead her to continue pursuing her interest in me.

On the other hand, the Emotional percentage, though somewhat high, was also within my expectations under that same assumption, since it should have been influenced by Rational’s conclusion.

But I don’t understand why Carnal went up that much. Last time, I was baffled by why it had risen so much, and once again, I still don’t get it.

Rather, I didn’t think it would be possible for it to rise that much without having sealed the deal.

It’s something I need to keep in mind for the future.

In any case, this means that the worst-case scenario—in which she wouldn’t want to keep trying with me and would set limits on our relationship because of her duties as a noble heiress—didn’t happen.

Instead, it seems she’s truly determined to move forward. It seems I overestimated her rational side—or perhaps I underestimated her emotional side.

Whatever the case, it’s good for me. It seems it’s only a matter of time before she obtains the Stigma of Lethargy.

"Astan?...Can’t you answer?" (Lys)

"Huh? I just got lost in my thoughts for a moment, but why are you suddenly so stiff, Lys? I thought we’d gotten closer last time. Or was I just overthinking it? /_ \. I guess I created a misunderstanding on my own about how close we are."

"No! Ah! I-I mean, you weren’t misinterpreting it—we really are close. And-and it’s not that I want to be stiff; I’m just a little confused about the situation and don’t know how to ask." (Lys)

"Oh, I see. So I didn’t misinterpret it. That makes me happy. And you can ask whatever you want. For you, my dear friend, I’m always willing to answer whatever you want, no matter how personal it is. I mean, I think we talked about a lot of personal things last time, didn’t we?"

I said that calmly as I closed the distance between us.

I could see her blushing and getting a little nervous about this, but she didn’t back away and seemed to be doing her best to act calm.

"Y-yes. Ahem, well, after all, I suppose that, since we’re so close, it’s reasonable. And it’s really not that big of a deal. I was just curious... Y-your relationship with Miss Kibershade." (Lys)

"Oh, you’re talking about Miss Shiro, right? Or maybe Momo or Scarlet? I mean, all three of them are Miss Kibershades."

"Hmm, yeah, if you don’t mind, all three of them. I see you even call the others by their nicknames." (Lys)

Oh, how cute. It seems she’s really interested in seeing if they’re rivals or something like that.

Hmm, for some reason, she reminds me of someone, but that’s not important right now.

"Oh, well, all three of them are people who, just like you, came to my parlor and received treatment."

"Huh? So t-they got massages from you? Is that why they became close, and even went out together and are comfortable with each other, calling each other by nicknames and...? I see, ~they..." (Lys)

At that moment, Lys began to speak quickly, as if she were talking to herself.

But, strangely, her voice gradually grew softer until, in the end, I could barely hear what she was saying.

I also noticed that her red eyes seemed to lose some of their sparkle and turn strangely dark.

For some reason, that gave me a bad feeling, so I quickly cleared things up.

"Wait, Lys, you’ve got something wrong! Even though they came for the services, I didn’t give them massages or anything. Only Scarlet needed a massage, and Iris was the one who gave it to her! They even became friends and all that!"

I said that while pointing at Scarlet, who had gone off to talk to Iris.

For some reason, both Iris and Scarlet now seemed to be conspiring to tease the cute elf. I’d really like to join in—it looks fun...

"Huh? Oh, right! That’s good. Ahem, I mean... Huh? Come to think of it, is that Livvy? Since when has she been here?"(Lys)

’huy!, having the person you like ignore your presence is a real blow!’(Iris)

’Huh? What do you mean by that?’

’I’ll explain later. Keep talking—elves have really sharp hearing.’(Iris)

’Okey!

"Huh? Was she here from the start? Is she a friend of yours or something?"

"Yeah, but that’s not important right now. If that’s all they were, why did they go out together today?" (Lys)

’huyy, that was a critical hit! Is Lys really good—or rather, really mean?’ (Iris)

It really did seem like there was something going on with that gray-haired girl, but Iris’s handling that.

Lys is my responsibility, so I quickly answered her question.

"Oh, well, when she came to my parlor—even though she didn’t get a massage—we talked a little and hit it off pretty well. And since we ran into each other by chance, we decided to have some fun together."

"I see... that’s why you seemed happy to be with her." (Lys)

"Y-yes."

Ugh! I don’t know why, but even though her tone was normal, that "I see" felt heavy, and for some reason, I had a hard time responding.

And I don’t know if it’s just me, but the atmosphere feels a little colder than usual.

"...And what about the other two? You even call them by their nicknames. I heard it’s normal with the middle sister, but anyone who’s tried it with the oldest ends up in the infirmary, in the intensive care unit." (Lys)

"Oh! As for Momo, it’s the complete opposite. Last time, she and I clashed over our values, and, well, we made a bet that I ended up winning by a landslide. Now I’m allowed to call her that, although, obviously, it annoys her every time I do. Isn’t that right, little Momo?"

"??, grrr, you big-mouthed jerk, don’t test my patience." (Momoka)

"Oh, so you really were listening. Momo, that’s not right."

Just like last time, even though she wasn’t looking at me, she seemed to be paying close attention to my conversation.

"As if I wanted to listen to you two! You’re the ones talking so loudly. Do you think I want to hear you acting so shamelessly?" (Momoka)

"Huh? Why am I shameless? What did I do wrong? I’m just talking to a close friend, aren’t I, Lys?"

"Yes, and I understand that Miss Kibershade is bothered by our conversation, so I’ll cast a barrier."

"And why have you been prying into things that are no-..." (Momoka)

"...Silentium." (Lys)

Momo looked like she was about to say something, but Lys didn’t give her the chance, and her sentence was cut short when Lys cast what appeared to be a spell.

When she realized that Lys had put up the barrier, Momo frowned, muttered something I didn’t hear, and simply turned her gaze back toward the entrance of this place, perhaps on the lookout for any danger.

Well, Lys probably didn’t think Momo was going to keep talking.

In fact, it didn’t matter. I’m more interested in that sound barrier, since I’m delving into the world of magic myself.

"Oh, that’s great, Lys! You know, I’ve actually been a little curious about magic and all that. Do you think you could tell me about it...?"

"Huh? Are you really interested in magic?" (Lys)

"Yeah, I get what you’re thinking. Maybe a simple massage therapist isn’t the right person to be interested in this, but I-..."

"No! That’s not it! I’m just happy that... Ahem! I mean, it’s good that you’re interested. I’m pretty confident in my knowledge of the subject. Hmm, where do I start?" (Lys)

"Well, I have a basic understanding of what it’s about, and I’m practicing a basic spell—though I haven’t been able to cast it successfully yet—and..."

I was going to chat with Lys and see if she could teach me a few things about magic, but it looks like that’s not going to be possible, since...

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out all around us, accompanied by a blinding flash.

*****

POV: Third person

******

Boom!

You could hear the ground shaking as the explosions reverberated across a wide area.

"Reinforcements requested in the central area. Number of beings contaminated by corruption: more than two dozen. All are at least rank 7."

The intense conflict was rapidly escalating.

The guards of the city of Delphia fought relentlessly while holding their positions.

This sudden invasion of corrupted beings had taken them all by surprise.

After all, something like that made no sense. Any corrupted being within several miles of the city would have been exterminated.

It was impossible for something like this to happen, but right now it was happening.

Those who still had the mental bandwidth to consider the causes of what was happening thought of one specific organization whose operational methods matched what was unfolding.

This organization operated internationally and had harassed numerous kingdoms.

Astraelyon was the only one where, thanks to Argos, nothing of significance had happened... at least, until now.

No one knew exactly what this organization’s objectives or motivations were.

Nor did they know why it had launched this attack or how it had managed to outwit Argos until it was too late.

Perhaps it was all related to the glitch Argos seemed to have experienced that very morning.

Fortunately, it wasn’t all bad, as Delphia’s response was absurdly quick—the incidents that morning had already forced the guards to be deployed everywhere.

This gave the guards a little leeway to get the citizens to safety inside the buildings.

Each building was constructed with the best and latest magical technology, making them practically fortresses in their own right.

As long as they weren’t deliberately attacked, they would be safe, even if there were tremors and loud explosions all around them.

The corrupted beings possessed little or no intelligence, and since the guards were monopolizing all their attention, none of them attacked the buildings.

Furthermore, little by little, thanks to their organization, the guards were beginning to gain the upper hand against this sudden invasion.

However, amid all the chaos and clashes, there was a group of five people on the move.

The five walked calmly through the city’s central square.

Guards and corrupted beings surrounded them, but none seemed able to see them.

Perhaps it was because, as they moved forward, the environment around these five seemed to crack like glass and take on a slightly reflective appearance, similar to that of mirrors.

There came a moment when their path forced them to pass right by the guards, but the group did not stop.

They continued walking calmly, and, as if they were ghosts, the five passed right through the guards’ bodies.

It was as if they didn’t exist on the same plane.

The world around them continued to fragment and take on that mirror-like quality, and, without anyone detecting their presence, they finally reached the center of the square, where two golden statues, nearly four meters tall, stood.

That was the group’s objective. Within those statues lay the core that allowed Argos to operate in the city.

And all that chaos was the distraction that allowed them to reach this spot without a hitch.

Zzzzzrrrk!

"Hahah! Great!... One of Argos’s eyes is finally in my hands! haha!, it really was going to waste in a place like this!... We’ll put it to better use." (???)

Once they arrived right in front of them, the man leading the group stepped forward and reached out his hand toward the statues.

The ground began to shake violently, and...

Brangm!

Both statues were torn from the ground, with a large chunk of rock still clinging to their feet.

"Waaah! What was that all of a sudden? I almost fell. Huh? Who are you guys? Well, never mind that. Can you wait a moment? I was almost done cutting off the wing!"

But as soon as that happened, the group heard an unfamiliar voice addressing them.

Everyone looked in that direction, and there was a figure crawling down from the back of one of the statues.

This was a strange and unexpected occurrence, since, in that world of mirror shards, no one was supposed to be able to see them.

"Ah! Wait, don’t tell me you’re from the guard? If you are, I mean, in my defense, this is a misunderstanding. I was just passing by, and that wing already looked loose. I just wanted to keep it from falling off. I’m innocent..."

"..." (??)

However, that person was obviously addressing them.