Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 44

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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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Now that I think about it, my father Duke Neftis boasted at Imperial Court parties even now about how he’d been pickpocketed in the Plaza when he was barely twenty, dressed in shabby clothes. In a tedious business attendance party devoid of any real entertainment, such anecdotes could be milked for years to come.
Since I’d already taken the money, I had to deliver proper service.
“I’m ready.”
As I nodded, Reina also nodded in readiness and unleashed a brilliant burst of flames.
“Skill! Inferno!”
“Take this—Dual Extremity!”
Did I really have to fight the Third Princess too?!
I quickly neutralized the flames and used my superhuman skill to evade the Third Princess’s attack. When Princess Sera’s fist slammed into the ground, the pavement shattered into fragments that scattered into the night sky.
Panicked crowds, a damaged flower shop, flower petals dancing through the darkness. I decided to respond earnestly to an attack clearly designed to create a climactic memory that would last a lifetime.
“Gate Open! Consecutive Ice Projectiles!”
Using an artifact to summon seawater, I created dozens of needles of ice and hurled them. Reina spouted the clichéd line “We’ll settle this another time!” and made her exit, while Princess Sera clutched Sunbird protectively and fled the scene.
Now I just needed to finish this. Among the hundreds of flower petals falling from the sky, I caught a blue rose, tucked it prettily into the client’s chest pocket, and turned to leave.
“Be more careful from now on.”
“Um, excuse me! May I ask your name?”
You really are thorough, aren’t you? Is your family a knight house? Are you majoring in lance knight techniques?
After tossing a bundle of cash to the flower shop owner to rebuild, the Noble Young Lady with a dreamy expression on her face gently grasped my academy cloak. Where had that rough, forceful grip gone—the one she’d used when demanding I earn the money she’d given me?
“Evan Laef.”
“Evan, I truly hope we meet again!”
“That won’t happen.”
Service time’s over—let go already. I coldly shook off the girl and set out to find Seian. If I’d ignored the status window, both Seian and I would have died today.
“Ow!”
Evan Laef’s superhuman ears! I tried to actively use my superhuman skill to catch Seian’s voice amid the surrounding noise, but the performance was so good that my eardrums just screamed and I clutched my ears in agony.
“Over there! I can hear the invisible prince’s voice!”
How do you have such incredible physical performance without even having related skills? I followed Reina down the Back Alley and spotted figures in black clothes gagging Seian and dragging him away.
“Skill! Inferno!”
You heard that muffled sound from the Market Street? Are you seriously a monster? As I was internally shocked, Princess Sera, faster than expected, already rushed at the assailants and engaged them in combat.
The Third Princess was no ordinary fighter, but neither was her opponent. It wasn’t just that they were exceptional—they clearly knew all of Sera’s moves. The assailant, who easily handled Sera while buying time for his group to escape, kicked her aside and fled.
“Damn! Imperial Court people?”
Yes. I thought the same thing. If they knew Sera’s movements inside and out, they were either trained the same way or someone who knew her usual training regimen well. Or possibly both.
“Your Highness! Are you alright?”
Sunbird attended to the coughing Seian, while Sera and Reina’s expressions grew increasingly stern. Something was bothering them.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine. I knew this would happen.”
The Third Princess apologized, and Reina saying she knew this would happen—it had to be Club-related. Since the Third Princess founded it and Reina joined, the only thing that connected them was Club business.
Then why did the Third Princess apologize? Generally, apologies are made when acknowledging one’s own fault, one’s own responsibility. It was certain that the assailant wasn’t the Third Princess’s person. If so, then she was admitting that everyone got caught up in this because of her.
Even in the original story, I’d been curious why she founded the Club and drew in influential figures. The red book had derailed the Third Princess’s original plan, but now that I’d changed the progression, she was continuing with her initial purpose.
Her true purpose. The assailant claimed to be from the Imperial Court. The Letem heir’s statement that she knew this would happen. Synthesizing these clues, the Third Princess’s purpose—as solid as they come—was singular.
“The Crown Princess, then.”
“You really do have sharp instincts. Are you perhaps from a fallen noble house? Or maybe an exiled foreign aristocrat?”
“I thought Evan Laef would have noticed first.”
“Why?”
Why? Because your usual behavior is so foolish. You possess a brilliant mind, yet you deliberately sabotage your own intelligence with all these character concepts and affectations. Is it intentional?
If Princess Sera had truly founded the club merely for entertainment, she would never have recruited the heir to Brandenburg—boasting the Empire’s mightiest military force—nor the Flame Count Junior, who wielded considerable influence in noble circles.
Of course, these individuals were fascinating talents in their own right, but the fact that she hadn’t invited the second-ranked student of the Combat Techniques Department while specifically recruiting Reina Letem, the second-ranked student of the Magic Department, meant one thing: Reina was essential to the Princess’s true purpose.
“Your purpose, then. Is it factional expansion and restraint?”
“Restraint, yes. But I have no desire to build a faction. I won’t be succeeding to the throne.”
“Restraint requires power and people. Your words contradict themselves, Princess.”
The very fact that we’ve gathered like this constitutes a formidable faction. The former heir of Neftis, a young lady of House Letem, and the junior of the Northern Duke. Assembling talents of this caliber and claiming you harbor no ambitions for the throne? No wonder the Crown Princess has come to investigate.
“My resolve is unwavering. I don’t want victims to multiply.”
“That remains to be seen.”
The Crown Princess is no joke. You won’t manage this alone. Not that I have any intention of helping, mind you.
“In any case, I’ve wronged Seian. I thought if anyone was being targeted, it would be me.”
I agreed with that assessment. In the original story, assailants had indeed attacked Sera, and if threats or warnings were to be issued, Sera should have been the target. Seian—who held no voice in the Imperial Court, whose presence was negligible, whom even the Emperor failed to remember by name, beautiful though she was—would be useless as leverage. Threatening her would accomplish nothing.
Unless, like Sunbird, her very existence posed a threat to Sera.
“Hey! Stop gossiping and worry about me! Worry about me! I’m dying from the pain!”
Seian’s spirited voice, even when she was throwing a tantrum, was beautiful. Look at her thrusting her neck toward me, marked with red handprints. She clearly expected me to fuss over her without question. How adorable.
“Seian will need protection for the time being.”
“I’ll assign guards from my side.”
“I’ll make time to pick her up from the Academic Department when I can.”
“Hey! Forget about guards—worry about me right now!”
This outing has become too chaotic. Shall we call it a day? As we deliberately ignored Seian and continued our conversation, she grew increasingly indignant, her protests growing more shrill. I then revealed my trump card to the Princess’s group—a boat, since the regular ferry service had been suspended and they couldn’t return to the Academy.
As I propelled the vessel forward with five passengers aboard, channeling the artifact’s power with a resonant surge, Seian’s fury evaporated before such overwhelming strength. She gripped the bow tightly and fell silent.

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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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