Chapter 381 - 381: What Do You Think the Treasure of New Eridu Is?

'No way... H-He really admitted it! Wise actually admitted it just like that! It's true that he often messes with Ellen!'

Astra was deeply shaken, but at that moment, Wise couldn't help but wonder why Ellen had told her everything, and in such detail...

"T-then what are you going to do to me next?"

Astra couldn't quite tell whether she was scared or excited.

Logically, she should be scared after hearing something like this, right?

But perhaps because of the time they had spent together, Astra couldn't feel any fear toward Wise at this moment.

Of course, this only applied to the present moment. Things might be different at certain times in the future.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything yet..." Wise said, pausing meaningfully.

"Oh..."

Astra sounded a little disappointed until he spoke again.

"Of course, I will cherish and care for you to the best of my ability. This is the promise I can give you until you're ready."

Hearing this, Astra became confused again.

"Cherish and care? Then why do you often bully Ellen?" she asked.

"Uh... actually, she volunteered for all of that," Wise said awkwardly.

There had even been a few times when he was the one being forced to do certain things... Anyway, Astra's question had genuinely caught him off guard.

When Astra heard his answer, she placed a hand against her forehead as if she had just heard something unbelievable.

"W-wait a minute. My mind is a bit muddled right now. So, you mean Ellen voluntarily asked to do those things?" Astra asked, sounding bewildered.

"Yes."

"Oh, I see... I understand, but there's still something... The competition is about to start. Shall we talk after Eous's match ends, okay?"

Wise naturally wouldn't refuse, and he was even surprised by Astra's emotional changes, from sadness at the beginning to acceptance later on.

By the end, Astra was even wearing a happy expression as she thought to herself, 'This is great. He is still the same Wise!'

Though she had been unwilling to accept it at first, Astra could ultimately come to terms with it.

For this, Ellen deserved some credit. Her words had caused a misunderstanding in Astra's mind.

The image of Wise she had held in her heart had briefly collapsed, but once the misunderstanding was cleared up, a sense of relief followed.

It made Astra feel that, compared to Wise transforming from a gentle and perfect boyfriend into an abusive pervert, there wasn't much she couldn't accept.

Setting that aside, the competition was about to begin, and many of Wise's acquaintances had also arrived to cheer for Eous.

Meanwhile, on the Victoria Housekeeping side...

"Why didn't you speak to Wise just now? Haven't you been missing him a lot lately?"

Ellen looked at the timid Corin beside her and asked in a puzzled tone.

"B-because Wise had other girls with him, and I was afraid of saying the wrong thing and making Wise unhappy..."

"Huh?"

Wise looking unhappy seemed quite rare, didn't it?

At least, as far as Ellen knew, even the last time she had slightly neglected him for a friend, he had only become more concerned about her.

Oh, of course, there had been a few exceptions.

For example, when certain things were halfway through but a special situation suddenly arose, forcing them to stop.

But even then, it had only dampened his mood...

"Why would you think that?"

Ellen was a little confused. Previously, Corin had shown little more than basic respect toward the other girls around Wise. Certainly, she had never been this wary of them.

After asking her about it, Ellen realized that, in Corin's view, she had already interacted with the other girls to some extent and knew that they were good people.

"I understand that Miss Yao's personality is perceived as very cold by the public, so that's why..."

'So that's it. It's a misunderstanding...' Ellen thought.

She then told Corin about her interactions with Astra, describing her as a very gentle, considerate, and perhaps slightly mischievous girl.

"Besides, anyone who has a good relationship with Wise is hardly a bad person. So, Corin, don't worry. We are all his girlfriends."

The last sentence was something Wise had told her, though she couldn't remember exactly when.

However, after hearing Ellen's words, Corin breathed a sigh of relief and no longer worried about having to deal with girls who might be difficult to get along with.

Their conversation was naturally overheard by the other two members of Victoria Housekeeping.

Lycaon remained silent, not wanting to say much, while Rina smiled with a touch of surprise.

Getting back to the main point, the competition was about to begin.

Eous confidently put on accessories with a joyful design and stepped onto the stage to begin the final showdown against Butler.

"The opponent is indeed very strong, but I think the winner will be Eous!"

As her attention became absorbed in the match, Astra temporarily forgot what she had been thinking about and focused entirely on the situation on the stage.

The match was intense, but the ultimate victor was Eous.

Lycaon was somewhat surprised by this.

How could it be...?

No, he should have expected it as soon as the challenge was issued.

"Congratulations, Master Wise. It seems the winner of this match is Eous. It was a rather splendid duel, but speaking personally, if I also had a vote, I believe I would still cast it for Butler."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"But clearly... the result of this contest shows that the charm you and Master Eous exhibited won the favor and recognition of more citizens. Please pardon my forwardness, but truth be told, I'm a bit curious... The final round's theme was 'Treasure of New Eridu,' yet the outfit you selected for Master Eous... Why was it a clown costume?"

"Hmm... Lycaon, what do you think the Treasure of New Eridu is?"

Wise did not answer directly. Instead, he asked a question in return.

Lycaon replied solemnly that it was responsibility and dignity.

The responsibility to resist the Hollow, and the dignity of a civilization.

Eridu was born and had managed to stand firm in the wilderness filled with Hollows, thriving and prospering to this day, precisely because it had upheld these two principles.

These were very reasonable words, so much so that Wise even felt it was a good thing the competition didn't have a speech segment. Otherwise, he might not have felt nearly as confident.

But in reality, this was simply a cognitive bias. It was like writing an essay.

You write your content according to the prompt, thinking it's very good, novel, and perfectly suited to the topic.

But when the teacher reads out other people's essays, you'll feel that theirs are better and even wonder why you didn't think of those ideas yourself.

"But I still think Eous will win."

Astra suddenly spoke, interjecting into their conversation.

"Duty and dignity are certainly important, but New Eridu has something even more valuable... its one-of-a-kind treasure. Wise, wasn't it you who told me about it yesterday?"

Astra said this while looking toward Wise.

Hearing this, Lycaon also spoke up.

"Master Wise, please, do enlighten me."

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