Chapter 176
The story of the young man who introduced himself as Shin was one that was difficult to empathize with, though somewhat pitiable. The impression I got was a dry feeling of "That sounds tough for your household, but it's not my problem."
I briefly considered trying to gather more information about his family situation, but since His Grace the Duke was probably already investigating that, would I just be wasting my time?
Even though I didn't know at first, now that I'm aware of the circumstances, I'm continuing to interact with someone I probably shouldn't be talking to. From here on out, there's nothing but downsides.
"Additionally, I've been getting harassed by a man named Jakaaran... He's connected to Duke Boltrinde, so I can't do anything reckless. It's giving me real headaches.""Jakaaran?""Yes, he's a hero candidate like you. This Jakaaran has become obsessed with a woman who's caught my master's fancy, and dealing with that has been another burden. Honestly, I haven't been able to sleep properly for the past three days due to the anxiety."
But hearing about Jakaaran made it impossible for me to walk away now.
Shin gave a dry laugh. Looking closely, I could see faint dark circles beginning to form under his eyes.
"...Why not just hand the woman over?""I considered that and even thought about suggesting it, but it would likely lead to closer ties with Duke Boltrinde, which would completely sever our relationship with the Edelgard ducal house.""Ahh..."
A subordinate being dragged around by his master's love-struck whims. Isn't that the worst kind of superior? Someone whose every action is dictated by romance, who thinks with emotions rather than reason. To put it bluntly, it's hell, isn't it?
On this point, sympathy won out, and I found myself looking at him with pity.
"Even if I wanted to cooperate with Lord Jakaaran, there's a troublesome person in the way.""A troublesome person?""Yes, my master's new friend. An adventurer from the western continent named Ares."
And with that, my sympathetic gaze deepened even further.
Ares—an adventurer who inexplicably acts like some kind of champion of justice. If I had to say whether I like or dislike him, he falls into the "dislike, or more accurately can't stand" category.
Please tell me he's not interfering with some nonsense about "love being equal"? Judging by his past behavior, that's not impossible, which means this situation could be even more troublesome than I thought.
"Initially, I met him as the adventurer who helped protect Lily—ah, that's the name of the woman I'd very much like to see removed from our household. Honestly, as someone working behind the scenes, my first thought was 'Why did you have to go and interfere?'""Um, should you really be telling me this?"
Hearing the name "Lily" made me think—isn't she a fairly well-known character in FBO?
I once thought that avoiding pink-colored troubles was best, but Lily is one of the so-called "Four Heavenly Kings of Trouble-Pink."
Her particular brand of trouble? She's a love-trouble maker who falls in love with love itself—no, more accurately, she deliberately creates romantic entanglements. She charms and ensnares men so effectively you'd think she has a Charm skill that shouldn't even exist in FBO. If she were a hostess, she could probably be the number one "pure-type" (outwardly, at least) for how easily she plays men.
But this effect doesn't work on veteran players. After all, everyone knows Lily is that kind of character.
New players might occasionally be fooled by her looks and first impression, only to have their hearts broken when they see her flirting with various male NPCs despite raising her affection level. This has become such a common experience that she's gained notoriety online as a heartbreaker.
I wasn't fooled the first time, but how many times has she ruined my interaction events with male NPCs? Her appearances seem random, yet she always manages to sabotage male character events with what feels like deliberate timing.
I do have male favorite characters too—not in a romantic sense, but ones I admire for being cool, impressive, or otherwise respectable. Having those interactions ruined by her, no matter how cute she looks, has made me angry more times than I can count.
I'd been intentionally avoiding involvement in this broken engagement mess, but now I'm starting to regret it. If such a troublesome character is involved, I should have gathered more information seriously.
Without the internet—the gamers' go-to information tool—the only information available here is what people tell me.
I avoided this because I knew trouble would follow, but I should have at least learned about these random-factor characters beforehand.
And now I understand why this character is called the "Saintess."
It's because she literally has the Saintess job class.
If you progress her storyline, you learn about her past. As the saying goes, "Like mother, like daughter"—Lily's mother was also skilled at winning men's hearts.
The difference is that the mother was acting deliberately. She had no choice—without doing so, she couldn't survive or provide for her young daughter after her husband passed away.
She wasn't a prostitute, but she played the role of a woman loved by men to perfection. The past tense is literal—she caught an illness and passed away just like that.
But the ending left a strong impression on Lily. Numerous men wept for her mother, whispering words of love even after her death.
Having grown up watching her mother be loved by men and seeing that love persist even in death, Lily naturally became a man-magnet herself. She internalized the belief that it was essential to be loved by everyone and to love everyone in return.
As for how someone from such a background could become a Saintess? Among her mother's belongings was a holy hair ornament—the item needed to become a Saintess.
Moreover, the men who loved her mother supported Lily, helping her level up. They made her learn healing skills to prevent illness. Finally, among her supporters was a priest who worshipped the God of Light.
This network of connections left by her mother led to the birth of a Saintess. It's too convenient to be mere coincidence, yet here she is in reality.
"Actually, I'd prefer if you knew and could convey to His Grace that this is how our family is handling the situation.""Ah, sure."
With this information about the "Trouble-Pink" character, I wanted even less to get involved. But now that I'd heard this much, I felt compelled to gather more details. Honestly, wouldn't it be better for the family if they just exiled this so-called "master"?
"Because she's a female acquaintance, my master was initially wary. But that idiot—my apologies, the adventurer Ares—had to go and declare he 'supported their love.'""Shin, watch your words.""My apologies. Remembering the incident made me lose my temper."
On top of that, Ares. That guy loves this kind of development—it's exactly his style.
He'd probably spout things like "Love is precious" or "Love knows no status." His way of speaking resonates strongly with certain justice-minded types.
Everyone has desires that society discourages, but normally, reason keeps them in check. Having Ares as a cheerleader removes that lid—in this situation, it's pushing things in a very dangerous direction.
Even as everyone else opposes him, having even one person validate the master's feelings makes him feel like he has an army of support. His wavering resolve hardens and grows stronger.
Shin must be frustrated—after all his efforts to break that resolve, here comes someone trying to "fix" it instead.
For a moment, Shin seemed about to lose his temper, but he took a deep breath, apologized for his near-outburst, and composed himself.
"And so, the misunderstandings we wanted to persist have unfortunately been 'corrected.' Now, he's become a troublesome friend. His words stir up righteous emotions and undermine the very foundations of nobility with his honeyed phrases. Even though we're the ones being wronged, they've convinced themselves they're the victims.""I can see that. The Edelgard ducal family has been dealing with that too.""Truly, I apologize.""Don't apologize to me. It's not like I can do anything.""No, honestly, lately even our negotiation meetings with the Edelgard ducal house have become fewer, and the discussions have shifted entirely to compensation demands. For our family, which handles diplomacy, this failure is extremely grave."
Caught between Jakaaran and Ares—just imagining it makes me sympathize with Shin on a personal level. If I were in his position, I'd abandon my status and run away.
I'm confident I'd snap and yell, "I've had enough!" But I can't be sure everything he's saying is true. Nobles excel at deception—if I show sympathy, they might take advantage and dump more work on me.
"I'll think about it.""That's more than enough. This Ares is extremely silver-tongued. If we carelessly cast that woman aside, he and my master would decry us as vipers destroying our own family from within.""Uh, should you really be saying that? Do you think I won't spread this around?""Normally, someone in my position should remain silent. Normally, I shouldn't even be contacting you."
Shin seems aware this contact is inappropriate, yet he's determined to convey what comes next.
"Then why approach me? Even if we met by chance, you could have just ignored me.""Because a decision has already been made. In two weeks, there will be a duel—between our family and the Edelgard ducal house."
My prediction wasn't wrong. All this lengthy explanation was to ask me to persuade the Duke to lose the duel? If so, I've already decided to refuse immediately.
"We want you to win that duel. Crush them so thoroughly they can't make any excuses.""...Are you serious?""Yes. Our family head says this is his last chance, as a father, to make his son see reason. As nobles, losing a duel is unacceptable—we understand that perfectly."
But his words were the exact opposite of what I expected.
"If we win as nobles, that's fine—they'll have to accept our terms. If we lose, it gives my master a chance to atone as a noble. The family head sees this as his final act of paternal love—a chance to start over. But as nobles, we cannot condone our master's foolish actions. As proof, he's declared he won't provide any support for the duel. This shows our family disapproves of his actions. So for this duel, the master must rely entirely on his own connections to choose his champion."
As he explained this complicated noble situation, his expression grew solemn. To me, nobles who can't easily apologize due to pride are just troublesome. Commoners can bow their heads easily, but for nobles, it's not so simple.
Even when it's clear which family is at fault, the individuals involved refuse to admit wrongdoing. You could beat them over the head with evidence, and they'd still deny it.
That's what made this situation so complicated.
"The duel participant will likely be Ares. He's an A-rank adventurer—the strongest in my master's faction."
Personally, I think Ares sticking his nose into this tangled mess only made the knots tighter and more impossible to undo.
"Please defeat him."
Nel... It looks like I'll have to fight a rather troublesome opponent. I'll need to start executing Nel's training plan soon.