Chapter : 151

The escaped former Pope, Caelus Amadeus Levian.

The moment that name—now stripped of all its titles and simply called a sinner—was mentioned, I felt my heart drop.

Iris Viden and Caelus joining hands. That was a sentence that had never once formed in my mind.

If I had to define their relationship in the game, adversarial would be the most appropriate.

After all, Iris began to support the Hero in every way possible after Lerwon’s death at the end of Part 1, and the former Pope was the main villain of Part 2.

What reason would there be for the merchant who supported the Hero and the Pope who was hostile to the Hero to join hands?

Even if they did for a moment, it was always a scene where Iris toyed with him as a ‘fake.’

“Does Fel know about this?”

“Not yet. The new Pope came to check in person.”

He had personally made the trip despite being busy right after his inauguration.

The meaning behind those words was, in fact, simple and clear.

“The Church still doesn’t want Fel to be a free man.”

In any case, since a trace of Caelus had appeared, it was more than enough justification for Fel to make a move.

“They must think the timing is too soon.”

Even so, it felt like they were toying with him, which I didn’t like. Besides, what if things got twisted?

As I clicked my tongue in annoyance, my father placed a hand on my head.

“She just lent him a forgotten piece of holy magic; there’s no concrete evidence that they’ve actually joined hands.”

“…Isn’t that the same thing?”

When I asked my father, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Keep it a secret from Lerwon.”

“I know.”

I really wanted to avoid a situation where Lerwon-sunbae would step in and make things frustratingly complicated.

Man, life isn’t easy. I should just be able to play around and enjoy my golden spoon, but this world on the verge of destruction rarely gives me a chance to do so.

With a light sigh, I got up from the cabana.

“Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”

With my spectacular history of causing trouble, I would have had nothing to say even if my father had hidden it from me until the end.

I can be pretty confident in front of others, but it’s just so difficult in front of my father.

“It’s only natural for a father to trust his son, there’s no need for thanks.”

“Haha.”

It’s thanks to you that the average for fathers in this world is going up.

I swallowed the words my father wouldn’t understand and just smiled.

* * *

“There’s a summer festival in the village down below starting today, how about we attend?”

“A festival?”

My eyes shot open at the welcome news, just as I was wondering what to do for fun tonight.

That’s right, it’s summer vacation, after all. It would be a little disappointing if all the events ended with just a trip to the water!

If that happened, the users would protest, saying the story writer had completely lost their touch!

“Are you seniors going?”

“We’d welcome a chance to have some fun.”

Lerwon-sunbae, Lucian, and Zephyros also nodded, saying they would go too.

“Then let’s go!”

A summer festival in another world, I wonder what it’s like?

I was full of anticipation, but what I encountered was—

“This is just a night market, isn’t it?”

The sight was so common in any tourist spot in the Republic of Korea that my inflated expectations instantly shriveled.

“Young Master! Would you like to try some of this?”

Even the sales pitches were familiar. Well, I guess festivals are pretty much the same in any world?

Still, I had some hopes since it was another world.

I asked Lucian, who was gazing at the night market street with sparkling eyes, a chicken skewer in his mouth.

“Isn’t it similar to the streets of Riedenfeld?”

“Just the fact that it’s nighttime makes the atmosphere feel completely different.”

The Flowering Festival didn’t operate at night.

Besides, Lucian had been crushed by the pressure of having to prove he was the Hero, so is this his first real festival experience?

For the protagonist’s first festival, it’s pretty small and modest, but…

“Just don’t complain later that it was boring and no fun.”

“Hey, no way.”

“Famous last words.”

At my lighthearted words, Cian seemed to be seriously contemplating it with a sincere look, as if thinking, ‘Is that so?’

Seriously, is it okay for a protagonist to be this naive?

I was starting to genuinely worry that one day he’d come back smiling, saying he’d been scammed by a pyramid scheme.

“I’m kidding. As if you would do that.”

“Oh, I see.”

A wave of self-loathing washed over me at the sight of Lucian muttering belatedly.

I must have been really mentally cornered when we cleared that dungeon.

Otherwise, how could I have superimposed the illusion from the dungeon onto this hopelessly naive Lucian?

“Theo?”

“Hm? Want a chicken skewer?”

“I’d love one!”

I handed Lucian a chicken skewer and various other snacks.

Yes, eat as much as you want.

Seeing Lucian with his arms full of snacks, Lerwon-sunbae and Zephyros similarly bought other things and placed them in Lucian’s arms.

Laurel-sunbae slyly used the excuse of helping to share the load to snatch and eat Lucian’s snacks.

That sunbae is so good with excuses. Chuckling, I decided that since things had come to this, I might as well help myself to Lucian’s snacks too.

“We also have lanterns you can make a wish on. Would you like to write one?”

After wandering around for a while, we received a sudden offer in the central downtown area.

I was wondering what kind of lantern it was when the merchant who made the offer explained with a smile.

“We’re planning to have an event later to float the lanterns at the beach.”

“Aha, I see. Then please give us one each.”

It would be a shame to pass up an event like that.

We each bought a lantern, and I noticed a strange flow of mana from the pattern engraved on it.

Maybe because it was dark, it seemed particularly visible. I examined the lantern from all angles and asked the vendor.

“Was this lantern made by a mage?”

“How did you know!”

The merchant’s eyes went wide in surprise as she exclaimed.

It’s just because I have rather peculiar eyes… but since it was too complicated to explain, I just gave the lady a vague answer.

“I have a good intuition.”

I quickly paid, and with a lantern in each of our hands, we headed for the beach where the lantern event was being held.

As it was the festival’s main event, the place was packed with people.

This is the perfect situation to get lost. The moment I thought I should just fly into the sky, the world instantly changed.

I blinked stupidly in the endless darkness for a moment, and just as I was about to call for Lou—

An all-too-familiar voice reached me.

“It’s been a while, Theo.”

“…Iris Viden.”

I tried to draw on my mana to cast magic, but the mana scattered.

However, it felt different from when I faced the Master of Gold in the dungeon last time.

Back then, it felt like someone was forcibly dispersing the mana that was trying to gather.

Now, it felt as if mana simply couldn’t exist in this space itself.

“I invited you for a little chat, so don’t be so prickly.”

“So there are invitations this aggressive.”

“The world is full of all sorts of things.”

She was so eloquent.

“Don’t be on your guard. I can’t use magic here either.

You can see with your ‘eyes’ that this space was constructed that way, can’t you?”

The Master of Gold had found out I possessed the Simunan.

Honestly, it wasn’t that surprising. Iris Viden, disguised as Ray, had clearly suspected me, and it wouldn’t have taken long for that suspicion to turn into certainty.

I stood calmly before her, looking down at Iris, who was sitting with her legs crossed as if there were a chair somewhere.

“So, what’s the reason for this sudden invitation? And how did you do it?”

“The invitation was that lantern. No matter what, I am the Master of Gold.

Do you think I’d be of any use if I couldn’t even get a single lantern into a mere county?”

No matter how thoroughly they inspected, it was impossible to check every single trivial object like a lantern.

If there was any silver lining, it was that there wasn’t much Iris Viden could do here.

Besides, when I checked my status window—

+++

<LapidemyBunnyPrincess> Lv. 30

-Class: Writer (Unique)

-Titles: Possessor, One Who Contracted with an Ancient Demon, One Who Contracted with a Light Spirit

-Health: 85(+5)

-Mana: 125

-Strength: 24(+6)

-Agility: 27(+7)

-Physical Resistance: 32(+9)

-Magic Resistance: 45

-Intelligence: 50

-Luck: -99~99

※Penalty: Nearsightedness

+++

I could still use the system. That meant if things got hairy, I could use my writer skill to escape.

Of course, to write, I’d have to hide my hands behind my back, and whether Iris Viden would let me do that was the question.

“You’ve told me the method, so now it’s your turn to tell me the reason.”

“Are you that curious?”

“I have to be. I thought you would hide yourself until you were ready to make your move.”

“The reason being?”

Her attitude was far too relaxed. It was almost infuriating.

I had just suddenly vanished from the middle of my group.

“Because that would be more advantageous for you.”

“Ahahat! I must seem quite ridiculous to you.

To see a mere first-year, a greenhorn who’s barely finished his first semester, ignoring me like this.”

For an instant, Iris’s gaze became chilling. Contained within her eyes was clear killing intent and a murderous aura.

The killing intent was so strong my skin tingled, and my breath caught for a moment.

“You really take after your father in that regard.”

“I’ll take that as a… compliment.”

The most I could do was pretend to be composed, as if I wasn’t scared.

As if she noticed, Iris continued to smile leisurely.

No matter how I thought about it, the Master of Gold was far more detestable than I was.

“I meant that I want to kill you.”

“If a son resembling his father is a reason to die, then I feel quite wronged.”

The killing intent brushed past me once more, but this time it was a light joke or mockery compared to before.

Hmm, I can endure this much. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I decided to ask what I was curious about.

“How did you make contact with the escaped sinner?”

“Ah, Caelus. I had quite a bit of trouble leaving him behind, you know. His eyes were bloodshot, demanding to kill you.”

She said the former Pope’s name as naturally as if calling a friend.

So they did join hands. However, it seemed their relationship wasn’t entirely smooth.

“He was so insistent, demanding that if there was a plan to kill you, I must give him the opportunity.”

“So, are you planning to kill me?”

“Of course not.”

Iris smiled, her eyes crinkling.

In that expression, I felt an indescribable fear.

“I considered killing you for a moment, but well… you’re a bit too precious to kill.

From your eyes to your source-less information and your incomprehensible power, everything about you has a value of countless gold coins.”

Does that mean that no matter what she’s plotting, my chances of survival are high?

It was both a welcome and a terrifying thought.

As long as Lerwon didn’t die, Iris would never change, and being a valuable existence to such an Iris meant I could be reduced to the Master of Gold’s puppet at any time.

“Well then, we should get to the main point. So, Theo—”

Iris asked in a gentle voice.

“Will you finally give Lerwon back to me?”

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