Chapter 241
'What the hell is going on?'
In the blink of an eye, Langerstine Street turned into a battlefield. Simon felt his body and mind freeze.
Let’s assume, for a moment, that there could be a terrorist attack right in the middle of Langerstine.
However, the ones responsible for the attack weren’t fanatic priests, but none other than Loraine.
Crackle!
The battle unfolded fiercely. Loraine moved while drawing intense red lightning, and behind her, pure white feathers followed like guided arrows. Every time her red dagger slashed, the feathers split and fell to the ground.
Whoosh!
Soon, a dagger spinning in her opposite hand stopped with a clink, then shot out at an invisible speed.
Bang!
The dagger appeared right in front of Serne and was blocked by the shield magic protecting her.
With an enormous backdraft, surrounding windows shattered, and floor tiles were ripped off and flew, but Serne’s expression remained calm.
“I won’t just stand by and watch your tricks anymore!”
Loraine said, her eyes flashing with brilliance.
“If you won’t stand by, then what are you going to do?”
Serne replied with a sinister smile.
The red lightning of Loraine and Serne’s white feathers collided fiercely without giving an inch.
With the feeling that things were really escalating, Simon shouted.
“Wait, Loraine! I think there’s been a misunderstanding!”
Loraine’s chilling red eyes turned toward Simon. However, she only glanced briefly and immediately turned her head back to focus on the battle with Serne.
“Lor...!”
Thud! Thud!
Suddenly, two skeleton hands flew and grabbed Simon’s shoulders, then fixed him to the opposite building wall.
‘Loraine’s skeletons?’
No matter how much he moved, it didn’t budge. Simon, trapped, racked his brain.
‘Loraine doesn’t want me to get involved in the fight. At the same time, she doesn’t want to listen to me. Why?’
It wasn’t just blind rage, like a “don’t interfere” kind of feeling.
After thinking for a moment, Simon quickly figured it out.
‘She thinks I’ve been mind-controlled by Serne!’
Finally, the pieces of the puzzle in his mind clicked into place. Simon lifted his left foot and pressed it against the building wall.
‘Open Gate!’
A tentacle blade from the Overlord emerged from subspace and precisely severed the joints of the skeletons holding his shoulders, neutralizing them.
As Simon landed on the ground, his gaze turned serious.
‘So, the best thing I can do in this situation is…’
Simon pulled out a short sword from subspace and charged toward Serne.
Surprised by the sudden attack from behind while fighting fiercely with Loraine, Serne tried to counter, but...
‘Simon?’
Serne’s feathers barely stopped.
Simon immediately wrapped his left hand around her shoulder, pulling her toward him, and placed the blade of the short sword at her throat.
“!”
Seeing this, Loraine froze, looking greatly startled.
The battle between the two powerful foes, which seemed impossible to stop, finally came to a halt.
“Oh my, how bold~”
Rather than being angry, Serne seemed pleased, leaning into Simon’s arms.
‘Please, at least pretend to be tense!’
This girl couldn’t be helped. His head was throbbing, but now that the fight had stopped, it was the opportunity.
Simon spoke in a serious voice, looking at Loraine.
“Trust me, Loraine. I haven’t been brainwashed.”
She ground her teeth.
“How can I trust that? What if all this hostage situation was set up by Serne?”
There was room for conversation, but Loraine still didn’t ease her guard.
“Well, let me ask you the opposite. How are you so sure that I’ve been brainwashed?”
“The fact that you two, who had no significant contact at school, suddenly started pretending to be lovers is weird. And, more than anything, Serne making you sign a curse contract. That’s the decisive evidence.”
The curse contract was a terrifying black magic item that activated a curse if the subject broke the agreement.
Simon now understood what misunderstanding Loraine had.
“See it with your own eyes.”
Simon summoned a skeleton from subspace and had it bring the document.
Still eyeing them with suspicion, Loraine examined the document handed to her by the skeleton.
“.......”
It wasn’t a curse contract, but just an ordinary order form with names and addresses written on it. Disappointment flooded her expression.
‘Seeing him write a name, I immediately thought it was a curse contract.’
Even with a telescope, she couldn’t see the detailed contents of the contract. Still, she had attacked out of strong suspicion toward Serne.
It was the same psychology as when seeing a habitual drug addict putting strange powder in their mouth, immediately suspecting them.
Her only thought was to stop Simon from signing and going to the Ivory Tower.
Loraine picked up her communication crystal.
“Cease hostilities. Fall back.”
As soon as Loraine’s command was given, her subordinates retreated behind the thick explosion clouds.
Fortunately, neither Loraine’s subordinates nor the followers of the Ivory Tower seemed to have sustained any injuries.
They were all aware that if casualties occurred on either side, the situation would become extremely complicated, so they had tempered their strength.
“I’ve already reported to Langerstine City and the royal family. Focus on cleaning up. Estimate the damage and check for any casualties. I’ll contact the higher-ups of the Ivory Tower separately.”
Her subordinates scattered at her command.
“Ugh~ How boring. Was it really necessary to stop the fight just because of a misunderstanding?”
Serne smiled contentedly but provocatively wiggled her fingers.
“Both of us look equally disgusting, so why don’t we just stay at it?”
“If you want to keep fighting with me, do it in Keyzen.”
Loraine approached quickly and grabbed Simon’s wrist.
“Let’s go, Simon.”
“Where to?”
Serne also grabbed Simon’s other arm. In an instant, Simon found himself unable to move as both arms were held.
“I have something I need to do with Simon~”
Serne tugged at Simon’s arm as she answered. Loraine, as always, maintained a calm poker face.
“Coming here without even reporting to Keyzen is against the rules.”
“You came out too, didn’t you? Do you get special treatment because you’re Neftis’ daughter?”
“More than that, I still can’t fully trust that Simon hasn’t been brainwashed.”
Loraine gazed at Simon with a piercing look.
“What was all that about earlier, feeding cotton candy, running errands for ice cream, hugging him, all of it?”
“......!!”
Simon’s face turned as red as his ears at her words.
“D-Did you see all of that?”
He was so flustered his voice was trembling. Loraine nodded slightly.
“Oh, oh no! Let me explain...!”
“Hehe, why are you asking about something so obvious between a man and a woman~”
Serne wrapped Simon’s arm around her and said playfully.
“We have business to attend to. It’s related to the mission evaluation. Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out on our own.”
“Considering the precedents, how can I just ignore it? If it’s about the mission evaluation, then report it properly here.”
Just as if she had been waiting for that comment, Serne took out a letter from her jacket, smiling meaningfully.
“Ta-da~ Simon and I were invited to the Dresden royal ball! It’s a special mission request for the top male and female students of the first year. Naturally, the royal family wants the best pair from the first year, right?”
"......."
Loraine closed her mouth tightly, and Serne smugly spoke.
"Got it? From now on, we're going to buy clothes for the ball. A lot of people will see Simon and the Ivory Tower’s successor walking around together. They'll probably say how well you two suit each other, right? After the ball, people will talk about the relationship between Simon and the Ivory Tower!"
Loraine didn’t listen to the middle part of her words and took out a communication crystal from subspace.
As the connection tone played, she spoke.
"Yes, Mom."
Serne’s eyebrows twitched. But in an instant, she regained her relaxed smile and pushed her auburn hair behind her ear.
"At 17 years old, you're calling your mom first. Ah~ Should I contact my dad after a long time?"
Though not her biological father, Serne’s father was the current lord of the Ivory Tower.
"Yes, yes, I got it."
After finishing the call, Loraine looked at the two.
"The ball. I’ll be attending too. The royal family will nominate me by the end of the day."
Simon let out a chuckle. Is this what power is?
Loraine crossed her arms and continued speaking.
"You said we’re going to buy clothes for the ball? Then we can all go together."
"......."
Serne pouted with an annoyed face.
* * *
In the end, the three of them went together to buy clothes.
The largest and most expensive store in Langerstine. They decided to buy the ball attire here.
'Where am I? Who are these people?'
But throughout the walk to the store, Simon grew physically and mentally exhausted from the pressure of the two girls on either side of him.
Serne was so aggressive that she constantly used Simon to provoke Loraine, and Simon had to keep watching Loraine’s reactions.
It was unbearable.
‘I already miss my team members.’
When he was with the three members of Team 7, he could laugh and relax without a care.
But with Loraine and Serne, it didn’t feel like friends of the same age, they were more like incredibly high-maintenance, picky bosses. His energy was being drained in real time.
"Simon! How’s this?"
Serne came out wearing a dazzling wine-toned dress.
"It suits you."
"Anything else besides that compliment?"
"......You look pretty."
Serne had chosen an outfit that revealed her feminine curves boldly. She purposely chose dresses that exposed her chest or thighs, standing in front of Simon and enjoying watching his reaction.
Simon tried to dissuade her, telling her to wear something more normal since she was still a student.
On the other hand, Loraine was quietly selecting clothes on her own.
The clothes she chose were all similar, pastel pink or frilly princess-like outfits.
To be honest, they didn’t really match her chic vibe.
"Why are you only picking those kinds of clothes?"
Simon asked, unable to stay silent any longer.
"My taste."
"......."
There was nothing he could say in response to that.
"How unfortunate~ Your fashion sense seems stuck in childhood."
Serne said that, wearing a leopard print dress with black fox fur, laughing as she spread out a shawl and covered her mouth.
Simon spoke.
"......Can’t you tone that sense down a little?"
"Oh! That’s cute!"
Serne didn’t even listen and ran off. What she called cute was a dress with skin exposed.
Simon sighed.
"Since childhood."
At that moment, Loraine, who had picked a frilly dress, quietly spoke.
"My mom only made me wear drab, formal clothes and dragged me around. So I’m kind of tired of being calm."
"......Ah."
Eventually, a professional clerk, unable to watch anymore, picked a dress for Loraine.
It was a classic, clean black dress, and when she came out wearing it, both the clerk and Simon, as well as passing customers, were left speechless.
‘Wow, she really looks like a different person!’
She looked like a sophisticated adult, not a 17-year-old girl, and above all, it suited her perfectly.
It wasn’t that Neftis had only tried to dress her in dull clothes, but that this style suited her so well that there were no other options.
Loraine, seemingly a little disappointed, looked at the pink princess dress, but only after Simon and the clerk showered her with praise for how well it suited her did she let go of her regret.
"Ah, sir, you’ll buy a set too, right?"
The clerk turned to Simon as the next target. Without hesitation, she pulled out two tuxedos, comparing them before handing one to Simon.
"Would you like to try this one?"
Since it was Simon’s first time buying clothes like this, he accepted it without hesitation and went to the changing room.
A while later, Simon came out, fully dressed in the tuxedo.
He adjusted his bow tie slightly and then asked.
"How’s it look?"
"......."
"......."
Serne, Loraine, and even the clerk remained silent for a while.
Serne quietly began taking out the money to pay.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters