Deadline Is Raining in the Status Window - Chapter 49

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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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“Die! Every last one of you who can’t love animals deserves to perish!”
The man who had wept at the sight of nothing but bones watched the panicked horses with wild eyes, hurling bombs and beating people into submission, reducing everything to rubble. Amid such chaos, I considered transforming into a sparrow and fleeing, but a thought suddenly struck me—wouldn’t the money boxes at the Betting Exchange be left unguarded in all this pandemonium?
I could seize this opportunity, grab the money, and pay off my debts. With nothing but greed in my eyes, Titi bolted toward the Betting Exchange, only to encounter the final boss of her life.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Titi.”
“Ch-chirp!”
“Seems you’ve been living quite well in my absence, you little wretch.”
“Chirp, uh, s-sister chirp.”
“Eating your fill and sleeping warm? All thanks to selling my name for entertainment. Must have felt absolutely wonderful.”
“Sister, Evan sister, please calm down chirp. Just listen to me, chirp.”
As Evan approached, Titi had no choice but to stumble backward in terror. I tried to create more distance, but my feet could go no further—I turned to find a massive pillar from the Horse Racing Track pressed against my back.
There was nowhere left to run. I opened my mouth to attempt persuasion, but Evan hurled a harpoon that embedded itself beside my face with a sharp whistle.
Pinned like a butterfly to a wall, I couldn’t move an inch as Evan drew closer, blocking my escape route with her right arm before seizing my jaw and lifting me up.
“Titi. Your sister is asking you. Did you have fun?”
“Y-yes, sister, gah, I’m sorry, chirp, I’m sorry.”
“Did you enjoy yourself, you little beast!”
“Chirp-eeeek! I had so much fun! It was amazing! I’m sorry chirp! I’m so sorry waaaah!”
Terrified and sobbing, Titi confessed everything—from visiting the Gambling Den to losing money in betting scams—and admitted that these past days had been the most thrilling of her ninety years. Evan then released Titi’s jaw with a flick and spoke with satisfaction.
“At least you had some fun. That’s enough.”
Why wasn’t she killing me? Evan had always been strange, but the fact that she wasn’t punishing me for borrowing a hundred million using her name and gambling it all away struck me as terrifying. People said that when someone suddenly changes, death is already knocking on the door.
“Skill: Ice Projectile.”
After attending the Academy and learning magic, she now wielded ice with surgical precision—carving it into shards, constructing walls of ice pillars, controlling it freely. Just months ago, she could only hurl crude chunks of ice. Moreover, observing carefully, I noticed she was employing sophisticated combat tactics, preparing offense and defense simultaneously. The brawler had evolved into a systematic fighter.
She was already overwhelmingly powerful, so I never dared challenge her. But after the Academy, she had become capable of dismantling opponents with methodical precision.
“Chirp-eeeek….”
While the Bomb Maniac cackled and hurled explosives randomly, Evan swiftly captured all the key officials of the Horse Racing Track and imprisoned them within ice pillars. Then she began her explanation calmly.
“Your Horse Racing Track is finished. First, I’ve brought a natural disaster.”
“Oh, a natural disaster? Darling, I’m just a humble animal lover!”
“I am not your darling.”
“It’s a sign of familiarity! Even if I’m fearless, how could I touch the Serpent King’s Consort?”
“I am not the Serpent King’s Consort. That natural disaster is a Floor Boss from Serpent King’s Tower.”
The Bomb Maniac, a floor administrator of Serpent King’s Tower who oversees an entire level, had overheard Fox and the Serpent King’s Consort discussing their plan to demolish the Horse Racing Track. He immediately abandoned his duties and rushed out to request joining them.
The Horse Racing Track—wasn’t that the place where humans confined and abused horses for their own amusement? Racing horses were treated well during their prime, but the moment they broke a leg or aged slightly, they were slaughtered. Horses with poor records were worked to death.
Though he called himself a sentient beast, the Bomb Maniac felt more affection for animals than humans. When he heard the Serpent King’s Consort was going to seize the Horse Racing Track, he eagerly volunteered to help demolish it.
“Go! You are free now!”
“These horses were fed by humans. If you release them into the wild, they’ll starve to death. Calm yourself.”
“Darling, you should have said that sooner! For now, hold on!”
The denizens of Serpent King’s Tower certainly listened well. How had Gerth educated them so thoroughly that they all grew into such virtuous sentient beasts? I found myself genuinely impressed, even as I considered briefly entrusting Titi’s moral education to Gerth. Then I turned to address the Horse Racing Track officials.
“Second. This Horse Racing Track is an illegal Gambling Den operating without Imperial authorization. You all need to vacate immediately.”
“Just kill me instead! If you cut off our income, we’re all dead anyway!”
“If you don’t want to be evicted, work here legally. I’ll get the permit from the Imperial Court.”
“You, no—how could you possibly do that, my lord?”
“The vice-captain of the club I belong to is the Third Princess of the Crowell Empire.”
I had always entertained the Third Princess dutifully, so naturally I assumed she would accept this request. I was already squeezing time out of my schedule to do club activities on top of my coursework—it wouldn’t be worth my while unless she set up a legitimate horse racing track for me.
Besides, the Third Princess knew I was from Neftis, so from a future perspective, it would be advantageous to do her a favor.
“Choose. Work, get arrested as a criminal, or die.”
“Must I really pick one of those three?”
“By the way, dying will hurt a lot. It’s been ages since I maintained my harpoon.”
“I’ll work! Please, let me work as a full-time employee!”
“What are you talking about? You’re an intern for the first six months.”
During the internship period, the hourly wage would be half the minimum. I spoke one of the sentences I most hated hearing in my entire life and laughed with a cackle, clutching my belly.
Watching me laugh so hard I was holding my stomach, Titi made a vow. I really must never talk back to my sister ever again.
“Little sister.”
“Yes, sister! Titi Laef is here, chirp!”
“Where’s Mother?”
“She went to a gathering, but she should be back by now, chirp!”
“I see. She wasn’t there.”
So she must have already stopped by the house. If Mother was away, at least Uncle Thomas would have been lounging in the living room, so I must have asked him and followed in my wake.
“Leri.”
“Oh my, you remembered my name even though I only told you once? What’s the matter?”
“Is there a prison in the Serpent King’s Tower?”
“A prison? There’s a convenience store now and a cosmetics shop too! I’m so grateful to the Serpent King and the Fox that I could thank them a thousand times over. I hadn’t worked in over ten years because of the smell there.”
As Leri, a horse-human with a stylish hairstyle, patted my shoulder enthusiastically, I lurched forward from the impact and coughed. Though it hurt quite a bit, I understood it as a sign of familiarity and pointed to the people I would soon be putting to work. “Protect them in the tower until the horse racing track reopens. I’ll consult with Gerth about running this place.”
“Protect them in the tower until the horse racing track reopens. I’ll consult with Gerth about running this place.”
“Oh, consulting? The Serpent King will do whatever the Crown Prince asks! What’s the big deal!”
“I’m not the Crown Prince.”
In the tower, it had already been officially declared that I was the Crown Prince, and they were planning to take me away as soon as I came of age. I wondered how much longer my sister could deny it. Titi didn’t make a sound and simply followed along.
Now I had to come when my sister called, go when she told me to, and obey when she commanded. I couldn’t think of a time when I hadn’t, but it was a matter of resolve. Right now, I owed my sister my life.
Of course, I didn’t count the time she saved me when I first got caught in the net. Titi was strongly convincing herself that it was Eleanor, Mother, who saved her then, not me.
“Make sure to protect the racehorses too.”
“Permission granted! Let’s go, everyone!”
As Leri, being a horse-human, gestured, the horses galloped away as if they understood. Watching that sight, Titi felt like she would die from frustration. Indeed, Silver Lindbergh was the fastest among the racehorses. Realizing he had just been playing around all this time, a thousand fires ignited within her.

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Since Gerth, the Serpent King, was currently preparing a feast, Evan suggested bringing Mother along if she hadn’t eaten yet. Titi tilted her head in confusion but headed home nonetheless.
While curious about why the Serpent King was arranging such a celebration, Titi was far more concerned about whether it was appropriate to bring Mother to the Tower. She anxiously asked whether both parties might be startled, but Evan simply replied with characteristic nonchalance.
“Gerth has already visited our home before. There’s no problem with Mother visiting the Tower. Besides, Gerth revealed he was the Serpent King upon our first meeting.”
Though Mother had believed Serpent King was his name and Gerth was his surname, Titi set aside her various concerns—after all, Mother would learn the truth eventually. She decided to let fate take its course.
“Say, dear.”
“What is it?”
Evan, attempting to push back playfully, echoed the endearment, but Leri didn’t even blink. He was a formidable man.
“That smoke over there—isn’t that your house?”
Evan’s gaze followed Leri’s perfectly manicured fingertip. Indeed, black smoke was billowing from the vicinity of her home. A faint hope flickered that it might be Uncle Thomas’s house instead, but her superhuman vision left no doubt—the flames were consuming her own residence.
In an instant, she cried out for Mother and bolted toward home. The house she had returned to after three and a half months was engulfed in raging flames beyond salvation.

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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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