Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Thomas scratched his head vigorously, then said that if it would help me, he had no choice but to reach out to his old colleagues from back in the day.
If you still have the means to contact pirates right now, you can’t exactly claim you’ve washed your hands clean, Thomas.
“Look at that! I thought that bastard was still out there plundering!”
“I’m telling you, I’ve washed my hands clean! I’m just asking people I know!”
But the world doesn’t recognize that as having washed your hands clean. Thomas would be squeezed by Mother for a while. I offered him a sympathetic word in my heart and reported the results to the person who had brought matters to this state.
“We will search for Duke Neftis with all our might on our side. In exchange, I’d like you to help me with my work.”
“That Duke Neftis person has no relation to us and is an expensive asset?”
“Oh, is that so?”
I grabbed the woman’s throat. I was thinking it would look like contemporary art and be magnificent if I embedded ice in this bastard’s throat, but Reina and Eugene tore me away.
“Listen here, just say yes! This one does what she does!”
“Evan. Calm down. If you touch Neftis, even Letem and Brandenburg couldn’t stop the consequences.”
“E-Evan, don’t let it be discovered, if you want to abandon, I can do anything…!”
Only Kanna egged me on, and Reina grabbed Kanna by the collar this time, lecturing that what she was doing was never for Evan’s sake.
Well…, I agree with that.
“Cough! I understand, so let go. Some jokes just don’t land.”
“That joke was funny.”
“What should I do, Mayor?”
Good, now we’re getting somewhere. I released the woman’s throat and created a sharp icicle, hurling it at the large map hanging on the wall. With a thud, the ice embedded itself in Laga, the city right next door.
“The Lord of Territory there is also participating in the competition to attract the train station, it seems. Find out how much budget he’s allocated, whose connections he’s leveraged—everything.”
“But if you assign me such a long-term mission, my main job…”
“Once we find Duke Neftis, I’ll put in a good word for you.”
I’ll handle things with Father just fine. With that meaning, the woman covered her face and let out fake sobbing sounds.
“Once you’re done crying, get to work.”
“I really hate you, Mayor.”
“You’re not the only one like that.”
“Bastard.”
“If you want to die, I won’t stop you.”
As I created ice again, the woman gave me a double middle finger and fled out the window. We were already short on reconnaissance personnel anyway, so this actually worked out well.
“I’m going to catch Titi and deal with her now. What will you all do?”
Since you’ve come all this way, I offered to either assign someone to guide you through Ilam or give you travel pamphlets, but unexpectedly, all three declined and revealed their own ambitions.
“I want to go see pirates by following that uncle. I’ve never seen pirates before.”
“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I…would like to have a sparring match with someone in the Tower.”
“T-Torture, if you need it, leave it to me!”
No matter what, she’s my younger sister—I wouldn’t go as far as torture. I calmed Kanna down and showed the other two the way back to Serpent King’s Tower.
“If you meet a demi-human from the Tower on the way, just ask them to use the return skill.”
I considered assigning an escort since Thomas was going to make contact with pirates, but with Reina going, there would be no safety concerns. A sparring match with a Serpent King’s Tower Floor Master would be valuable experience, so there was no reason to stop Eugene. Kanna said she’d follow me around, so everyone’s schedule for today was set.
“Then let’s adjourn.”
Everyone went their separate ways, but Mother came to me and told me not to scold Titi too harshly for what a foolish child had done unknowingly. I pointed out that a foolish child wouldn’t embezzle by stocking the Tea Room with cheap tea and snacks while pocketing the difference, but Mother didn’t seem convinced.
“Miss, surely Titi couldn’t be that clever.”
Fair point, but what’s done is done. I gave a vague answer that I’d handle it myself, then urged Mother to change clothes since her current outfit was utterly unflattering.
“Is it really that bad?”
“At minimum, remove about nine rings.”
“That’s strange. All the neighborhood ladies said it suited me perfectly.”
Well, of course the Market vendors would say it looked good—who tells the truth? I made a mental note to drag Leri along next time Mother needed to pick out clothes. Then I grabbed Titi, threw her into the City Hall Basement Prison, and prepared for a wing-cutting.
I’d make sure she couldn’t fly for the next three months, I said menacingly while picking up scissors. Titi shrieked and wailed, promising through tears never to pilfer from the Tea Room or Supply Room again.
I’d suspected the Tea Room incident, but she’d raided the Supply Room too? This bird-brain had terrible judgment but inexplicably good execution. Like that time she squandered a hundred million on a scam.
No matter what, she didn’t seem capable of reflection. She needed to experience a proper beating—only then would she fear causing trouble.
“Kanna, handle the right side.”
“Y-yes! Leave it to me!”
“Kyaaaaa! I’m sorry! Kyaa! I won’t do it again! Kyaaaaa!”
“You said the exact same thing after losing a hundred million last time.”
Now it was time for punishment. I spread the massive sparrow’s wings wide and began snipping away the flight feathers with decisive cuts. Being a giant plump sparrow, her feathers were enormous.
“Squaaaaaawk!”
What dramatic overreacting. Titi sobbed and wailed, tears streaming down her face, so I told her it was just the feather tips—it shouldn’t even hurt. But this little brat suddenly shifted form.
“How am I supposed to go outside like this now! Squaaaaaawk!”
….
….
I never expected to witness such a tragic sight. From cutting a few flight feathers, Titi’s head had become nearly bald, and with her head shaved like that, the patch she’d gotten recently stood out glaringly.
“If you wish, I can buy you a wig.”
“I don’t need one! Squaaawk!”
*Pfft.*
“Squaaaaaawk!”
She’d barely stopped crying when Kanna burst out laughing, causing Titi to wail even harder with her neck muscles straining. I shot Kanna a look, and she quickly covered her mouth with both hands, trying to comfort Titi.
“N-no, I mean. You’re c-cute. You’re so cute that I, I just… Titi.”
“You’re laughing because it’s funny, not because I’m cute! Kyaaaaa!”
*Snort.*
So Kanna was the type who couldn’t hold back laughter once it started. Seeing she was about to lose it completely, I told her to go upstairs and bring back just one hat, then freed her from the burden of restraint. Kanna hurried up the Staircase, and I could hear her stifled laughter echoing down.
“Titi, I have some advice for you.”
“What now? Kyaa!”
“Don’t do things that will get you caught.”
Titi, being bird-brained, didn’t seem to understand and made a confused expression while thinking. Honestly, everything Titi attempted had decent intentions.
Breaking the Village barrier and fleeing without looking back was the right call. Getting caught in that trap net was incredibly stupid, though.
Starting the loan-sharking business had good intentions too. If she’d kept within limits, she could’ve earned decent pocket money and helped the household. But being bird-brained, she got completely swindled by con artists.
Even embezzling from the Tea Room and Supply Room budgets wouldn’t have been discovered if she’d stayed within bounds. I even wanted to give her credit for trying to buy pretty clothes for Mother.
The problem was that no matter what she did, she always went too far. If you’re going to cause trouble, at least don’t get caught. A lie isn’t a lie as long as it’s not discovered. If you can’t be confident it won’t be found out, the best option is not to lie in the first place.
I tried to give her a hint by explaining that if she hadn’t been caught, she wouldn’t be getting punished now, but Titi shrieked in horror.
“How did you turn into such trash, sister?!”
Who are you to speak like that, you little con artist? When I smacked the back of Titi’s head, the brat whined and complained. Damn sparrow, how did Mother end up taking in such a creature as her daughter?
“M-Mom brought a hat!”
I placed a winter hat with fluffy fur on her head, and Titi’s appearance resembled that creature perfectly. If I pulled down the ear-covering part just a bit more, she’d look even more like it. After adjusting the hat’s shape slightly, the buzz-cut Titi became an even more perfect replica of that animal.
“You could go out and sell roasted chestnuts looking like that.”
“Squeak!”
Titi kicked my shin. This brat, small as a bean but with demi-human agility—I was caught off guard and couldn’t dodge in time.
“Stop right there!”
“Stop? Who’s stopping, you dumb idiot! Squeak!”
Titi ran away desperately, and I didn’t bother chasing her. She should have gotten the message by now. If she causes trouble again, it’ll just prove that brat really is bird-brained.
“Aha, aha, Evan, your little sister is so spirited and fun.”
“I’m not amused at all.”
Kanna, with tears streaming down her face, murmured something that seemed laden with meaning—that she wished her own sibling were as spirited as Titi. Her story seemed to carry weight, but since Kanna didn’t elaborate further, she clearly didn’t want to discuss it. In that case, it would be proper not to pry.
“I have duties to attend to as the Market Administrator.”
“I-I want to come along too!”
Kanna, you really have nothing to do, do you? Even watching me work would be boring. But there was no reason to refuse, so I went to the City Hall press conference room and met with journalists to clarify the incident from last night.
Gerth’s group’s deliberate destruction of the village was officially reported as a forest fire. A massive blaze had erupted in the Demi-human Village Friendly to Humans, and though I and my aide Leri rushed to the scene, we arrived too late. Some surviving demi-humans are being protected by the city, and we will arrange housing for them shortly.
Though it was a major incident with the village completely destroyed and eighty percent of residents dead, I suppressed and downplayed the incident on my authority, and the journalists accepted this, agreeing to report it as such.
“As you leave, each of you should take one of the boxes I’ve prepared. Since you came all this way, I’ve arranged a small token of appreciation.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean they wrote the article with empty hands. There’s a reason for everything—give and take. The journalists confirmed the modest gifts I’d prepared and, pleased, removed their hats to bow respectfully to me.
When I returned to Serpent King’s Tower and opened that evening’s newspaper, the article about the forest fire and the partial burning of the demi-human village appeared in very small print.

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Two days had passed since Thomas and Reina set out to find the pirates, yet neither had returned. With Reina at his side, I trusted Thomas’s safety, but worry refused to dissipate entirely. Eugene’s condition troubled me as well—today he looked even more battered than yesterday.
“Eugene. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
It was difficult to believe such words from someone covered head to toe in bruises. I decided to ask Wenri, the sheep demi-human, to cast healing magic on him later, then rose from the table. I had business at City Hall today and would need to bring Leri along. The journey there might be tedious, but with Leri beside me, the return trip would be swift—a single teleportation spell away.
“Mother Evan! Father has returned!”
Gerth? That was welcome news indeed, and I forgot to correct the address in my haste to leave the Dining Hall. Standing in the center of the Final Boss Hall was Gerth, sporting an even more impressive mechanical arm than before, holding an enormous sack in one hand like Santa Claus himself.
“Gerth. You’re back.”
“I am.”
“Any injuries?”
“None.”
“I see.”
“And you?”
“None.”
“I see.”
With our greetings concluded, I was about to compliment his mechanical arm and ask what lay inside the sack when Leri came bounding up from below, rushed over to me with rapid footsteps, linked arms with me, and began dragging me away.
“Darling! Look at me for a moment.”
“We’re in the middle of conversation.”
“That doesn’t count as communication!”
As I protested and was pulled along, I glimpsed Gerth being dragged away by Hubert as well. Gerth mentioned needing to discuss the task Evan had entrusted to him while holding the Santa sack, but Hubert shrieked in protest, insisting he knew nothing, and stomped loudly down the corridor. Seeing such baseless defiance, I suspected Hubert was entering his rebellious phase.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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