Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 127

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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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After finishing the work and returning to the entrance to rebuild the wall, the Bachelor nodded, committing every detail of my actions to memory. If he’d brought a notebook and pen, he probably would’ve taken notes too.
“Your name was Evan Laef, wasn’t it?”
“Evan Laef, Mayor of the Integrated Market. Ilam is a wonderful city to live in. A train station will be opening there soon.”
Since my name had come up, I disclosed my position and promoted the Integrated Market, but the Bachelor ignored such trivialities and continued prattling on about his own thoughts.
“You must know that Cecilia is quite fond of you.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“If you come to Her Highness Cecilia, she’ll treat you well.”
“I don’t want to be treated well.”
“Why not? Most people would consider it an honor.”
“Our cultures are different.”
There are some things we simply cannot understand about each other because we’ve grown up in different environments and cultures. It’s a gap as deep as the Eastern Sea and as vast as the Raga Plains. When I explained this, the Bachelor tilted his head in confusion, then denied my sincerity, insisting there was no need to be modest.
“When you tilted your head just now, the angle of your neck was rather beautiful. The glimpse of your collarbone showing is quite erotic.”
“….”
“….”
“I see. Our cultures truly are different.”
Finally, he understood. Having accepted each other’s cultures, we compromised and agreed to go our separate ways.
I was fortunate that this fellow possessed enough common sense to be magnanimous. If he’d attacked me at Cecilia’s behest, calling me her rival, we’d both be ruined.
“You’re quite a unique person.”
“When the upper waters are unique, the lower waters tend to be unique as well.”
Since we’d completed our task, we decided to enjoy a refreshing non-alcoholic mojito before leaving. Sunbird and Sera would handle the rest on their own.
Kanna and I found a bar in the middle of the night and threw a non-alcoholic cocktail party, then drove a rowboat back to the Dormitory using the Neftis Family heirloom. Past midnight, the day had changed, and the Founding Ceremony was drawing near.

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Though it was a weekday, the Plaza overflowed with people. The four-day golden holiday beginning today had been created entirely to commemorate the Founding Ceremony. In accordance with this, the Capital held a festival, and smaller events were held in the provinces as well.
Of course, since it was a national holiday designated by the state, the Academy closed too! Last year, I’d avoided coming anywhere near here for fear of running into members of the Royal Family or House Neftis, but now I could come with peace of mind.
After all, my identity had been completely exposed to the Neftis family, and I’d become known to the Imperial Palace staff, including Cecilia, as Evan Laef.
Ha, damn it. How did Evan Laef become such a famous person?
“Hey Evan! They’re selling fruit beer over there!”
“I don’t drink alcohol.”
I insisted to Seian, who was excited about the festival, that I’d drink non-alcoholic beverages since I was a minor, but he mocked me for being boring even on a day like this.
“H-Evan, here. Non-alcoholic, plum, plum juice drink.”
“Thank you, Kanna.”
“Ha! You enjoy wagging your tail for a woman like this?”
“Yes.”
When Kanna answered Seian’s sarcastic remark with a serious expression, Seian muttered curses and paid for his fruit beer. Had he been saving money to spend today after shamelessly showing up at the Magic Department to mooch meals for the past few days?
“Come on, let’s just ignore those two and enjoy ourselves. Let’s drink, let’s drink!”
“I don’t want to be grouped with you!”
“Ah… wouldn’t being on the same level as Letem be an honor?”
“I’m Crowell, you crazy bastard!”
Seian, you’re reacting, so Reina’s egging you on even more. When Letem deliberately threw out that jab and Seian shrieked, Reina Letem laughed heartily with delight and tapped the transparent Crown Prince’s shoulder. Even for a festival, that guy looked way too happy.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“What did you do?”
“Huh?”
I asked suspiciously what this guy had done, noticing his suspicious joy, but Reina only raised the corners of her mouth more suspiciously and shook her head.
“Do I always cause trouble? Why don’t you trust me?”
“Because you always cause trouble.”
“W-well, that’s true.”
“Letem is the very definition of trouble.”
“Honestly, you deserve to hear that.”
When everyone in the Club Room who’d been summoned—except Sera and Sunbird—ganged up on her, Reina made a pitiful face as if shocked and pulled out a handkerchief to chew on.
That’s why they didn’t trust her, because she kept showing that attitude.
“Well, Letem has lots of ears, you know. I just thought it’d be fun to see what happens, so I brought fruit beer and snacks all packed up.”
So that’s why she’d brought fruit beer and appetizers all bundled up. Then Eugene made a suspicious face, as if he’d heard news from the Brandenburg side as well.
“Could that rumor actually be true?”
“Huh? What ruuuumor?”
“Evan. I’m going to punch that bastard in the face.”
“Calm down, Eugene. There are many people in the Plaza.”
We were already standing out because we were all wearing uniforms and crowding around together. If we weren’t careful, rumors could spread that there was discord between Letem and Brandenburg, so it was better to be cautious. Eugene trembled with his fists clenched and took a deep breath.
“I’m glad you’re here, Evan.”
“You’re too kind.”
You would have endured it well enough on your own even without me. At my consolation, Eugene said something scary and begged me not to abandon the club and go anywhere else, gripping my hand tightly. I clasped his hand in return to assure him I wouldn’t run away, and somewhere a ferret cried out.
“Hey! You only need to say it—why are you holding hands!”
“Friends can hold hands, can’t they?”
“That’s right. Friends always hold hands.”
“W-well, that’s true. I, I do it often too.”
“Eek!”
Why was this dark-furred weasel making a fuss again? Seian tried to forcibly separate the hands Eugene and I were holding, but there was no way he could overcome Eugene’s grip strength. Rather than tearing us apart, Kanna grabbed my hand as well to flaunt our friendship, and the man let out a shriek before patting my back repeatedly.
“Shh. It’s starting.”
The moment the bell tolled noon, Sera emerged onto the balcony of the Separate Palace overlooking Crownpolis Plaza, beautifully dressed and holding a chisel and hammer. Since the event required breaking stone, the appearance of chisel and hammer was natural enough, but whether one called it ill-suited to her outfit or simply savage, the impression of unnaturalness was unavoidable.
“A thousand and nineteen years have passed since the sky of the Empire opened!”
Sera proclaimed with vigor the speech that should have come from Cecilia’s lips. All things considered, Sera suited the festival far better than Cecilia. Didn’t Cecilia look gloomy just standing there?
Moreover, if the Imperial Court’s symbolic color was black, Cecilia in her black dress evoked a funeral, whereas Sera wore an adorable mini dress brimming with vitality. And the red camellia decorations adorning the plaza made Sera shine all the brighter.
Those decorations must have been specially commissioned because of Sera’s Sunbird. After all, the Sunbird was also called the camellia bird.
“Now, I declare the festival open!”
With prepared remarks, Sera truly appeared capable. As she finished that lengthy speech and spoke brightly, she shone like the very future of the Empire. Though Sera hadn’t intended it, there were certainly those who had their hearts stolen by this declaration.
Crack!
Now it was time for Sera to fall spectacularly. The massive stone decorating the balcony should have shattered with a loud snap, and water should have erupted from the central fountain, but as time passed, no refreshing stream appeared.
While the crowd gathered in the plaza murmured and the Imperial Palace guards floundered about, we watched the situation unfold while gulping down drinks and snacks.
“Did you completely destroy the aqueduct or something?”
“I froze it. Didn’t you hear the plan up until now?”
“You don’t understand metaphor?”
“That wasn’t a particularly witty metaphor.”
“Eek!”
I was about to poke Seian and watch the moment the Sunbird’s plan reached its conclusion when a whistling sound came from somewhere. Looking up at the sky at what sounded like something flying, seven glowing stones were falling like meteors.
“What?!”
“Get away!”
“Your Highness! Protect Princess Sera first!”
Was Cecilia’s faction launching a terror attack? While I was thinking such thoughts, Reina laughed as if she’d been waiting for this moment. At the same time, a water column surged up from the ground.
Whoooosh!
Wait, I’ve seen this sight before, haven’t I? Isn’t this the same principle as when the groundwater burst in the student cafeteria?!
“Wait. Could it be… gravity?”
I positioned myself in front of Seian and braced for danger. The moment I realized it was gravity magic, I became certain it wasn’t terrorism, but there was no harm in being cautious.
“Evan! Look there!”
“The Department Head Professor!”
As I’d suspected, the culprit was indeed the Department Head Professor. Like before, he was walking through the sky as if descending stairs using gravity magic, but this time he was escorting a different man with one hand.
“Ah, truly Your Highness Sera! Events led by Your Highness have a different scale altogether!”
The man who landed while clapping appeared to be around the Department Head Professor’s age—perhaps late forties. His hair was a crimson shade different from Letem’s, and he wore a monocle over one eye. It didn’t look particularly fashionable, as the eye behind the monocle was clouded white. Perhaps that eye had almost no vision.
“Seven stones. I see.”
What did Eugene figure out now? Wait. Seven stones?
“Zibenstein!”
Zibenstein—isn’t that one of only two ducal houses in the Empire?!
As I instinctively cried out that name, the people around us stirred, saying that if it was the Zibenstein Duchy, wasn’t that a renowned noble family of imperial merit?
The original work never mentioned it, but as Mitchell Neftis, I knew of another ducal house. Their sole heir had gone to prison, and with the current Duke now in his seventies suffering from the headaches it caused, my father visited frequently to offer comfort. It just so happened that their one and only heir was also an exceptional mage, which meant the succession absolutely had to continue…
“Prison… an exceptional mage?”
Wait, I just remembered someone. Wasn’t the Former Dean of the Magic Department imprisoned as a political criminal and never released? He’d written that red book so prolifically, harbored such resentment toward the Empire, and composed so many songs about the Crowell Empire’s downfall—I’d always found it strange that he was still alive in prison rather than dead.

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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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