<297 - Change of Heart>
As soon as Ishtar heard about Oknodie’s weakness, she felt her future was bleak.
“I don’t know.”
She couldn’t even guess what Oknodie’s weakness might be.
Up close, she displayed the tricky aspect of a swordsman, leaving afterimages due to her high-speed movement represented by [Acceleration Afterimage Sword].
At mid-range, she wielded a wand to cast sinister dark magic spells represented by [Dark Sphere].
At long range, she would vanish with [Concealment], leaving no trace to follow.
Whether she had ditched the battlefield, was lurking to seize an opportunity, or circling around to strike from behind, there was nothing predictable about that scary kid.
“Just because she has a lot of dark mana doesn’t mean she has a weakness against holy swords, holy magic, or sacred magic.”
Weakness? What good would that do?
She wouldn’t even let herself be hit.
Even if she obtained her physical weakness in the auction, it would be as useful as a pretty but rotten peach.
“There needs to be a deadly weakness that Oknodie would never expect, like the supporter faction of the Warrior Party.”
If not, it would hold no value.
But would Oknodie really be ignorant of that fact?
After all, she had plotted to kill a professor over a month ago.
Contrary to public perception as the sweet kid carrying the title of Dark Princess, it had become clear today that the true identity of Oknodie was indeed the Dark Princess.
Surely she had meticulously designed this moment as well.
“Ishhtar. 3,400,000 points.”
Ishtar threw in all her points.
This was all she could muster.
“I’m satisfied with this much. Just let us go with our weaknesses.”
With Ishtar’s heartfelt yearning, Oknodie smiled brightly and raised her hand.
“Oknodie. 3,700,000 points.”
Ishtar’s head drooped.
“Sorry, Yufi. I was too weak.”
“It’s not over yet.”
“Yufi…?”
“I’ll give you all my points.”
Yufi immediately transferred all her boarding points to Ishtar.
400,000 points.
Adding Yufi’s points miraculously gave them another chance to raise the bid.
Ishtar felt like she might cry.
She thought of herself as no good for making her childhood friend suffer and now borrowing her points, yet she couldn’t refuse this aid.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. The Warrior Party is a party of two—me and you. The risk of missing this auction item is something we both share.”
Yufi, telling Ishtar not to feel guilty while loosening the tension on her shoulders, made it clear today that she was indeed a saintess.
“Let’s succeed for sure.”
“We’ll achieve great success.”
“And someday, I’ll repay Yufi for the debt I owe today.”
“Tenfold, with generous interest on top!”
“Hehe.”
But why did that kid, Oknodie, keep smiling?
Her determination and burning will were shaken like pouring sand on a campfire.
She felt chills run down her spine.
It wasn’t over yet.
That terrifying laugh seemed to be saying just that.
Why?
Why indeed?
“380,000 points is full, huh?”
“You can’t be…!”
Even in this situation, you won’t permit us?
Despite Ishtar reeling in horror, Oknodie ruthlessly raised her hand.
“Oknodie. 4,900,000 points.”
There were no more points to raise.
Even combining with Yufi’s energies yielded nothing.
The two women lowered their heads in defeat.
Oknodie tilted her head toward the Warrior Party.
“Have you given up?”
“You cruel wretch! Must you check to the bitter end to be satisfied?”
“Well, I’m an assassin, so perhaps.”
Ziang, who quietly provided commentary from the back, raised Ishtar’s ire as she lifted her chin.
Oknodie sat down right in front of her, peering closely into her eyes.
…Too close.
The proximity made her uneasy.
That discomfort might have been foresight.
But compared to Oknodie’s subsequent statement, that feeling was nothing at all.
“If you lack points, you can earn them here.”
“You can’t seriously be… aiming for point confiscation…?”
Oknodie pulled out a vuvuzela from her pocket and blew into it with a loud pwoooow.
“Correct!”
“Since I made my friends suffer considerably, I hope you understand this level of recompense.”
Oknodie’s blatant declaration was laden with a clear punitive intent.
“Just so you know, I won’t renew my bid from now on. If you can overturn this, you can have the item!”
The combined total of Ishtar and Yufi’s points was 3,898,900 points.
They were 1,101,100 points short of 5,000,000 points.
━━━
Confiscation Menu
━━━
Bloodletting 1ml = 10 points
One hour of serving = 100 points
…
Breaking a finger joint = 100 points per time
Tooth extraction = 1,000 points per tooth
…
Scholarship from the foundation = 100,000 points
Political marriage = 1,000,000 points
━━━
If Oknodie kept her promise.
If there was no further renewal of bids.
Then she could receive the scholarship.
If she was tethered, she could be freed.
If giving up her chance at choosing a future spouse meant she could continue the adventures of the Warrior Party, it would prevent young girls sacrificed by the empire’s wicked laws from falling into despair again.
At least, for her childhood friend Yufi, she could allow her to live as a successful saintess.
“Don’t say something foolish, Ishtar!”
“That’s scary. If the bid prices were thoroughly considered against the confiscation menu, that means you already had everything planned from the start, right?”
“Ishtar!!”
“Even knowing this, I have no choice. If I don’t back down here, I’ll suffer even more losses. So please understand my decision, Yufi.”
“I’d rather–!”
Just as Yufi was about to shout that she would take the initiative to obtain the scholarship, her body suddenly collapsed.
Knowing her childhood friend’s mindset, Ishtar quickly pinpointed Yufi’s vein and knocked her out.
“Scholarship from the foundation is 100,000 points, political marriage is 1,000,000 points, and breaking a finger joint is 100 points each.”
110,000,110 points.
Just before time expired, Ishtar mercilessly twisted her finger joint with a loud crack.
Using the Warrior’s recovery ability, she quickly regained her finger’s original angle and viciously broke it again in succession.
Had there been ample time, she could have filled all points just by twisting her fingers.
“The auction will end in one minute unless there is a higher bid.”
But the time to renew the bid in the Uninhabited Island Auction was just one minute from when the butler spoke up.
One minute was absurdly insufficient to twist her finger joints 1,100 times.
‘The resolve wasn’t enough.’
With her abilities, she ended up having to pay a higher price.
Because she had been complacent.
Because she had been arrogant about her status as a warrior.
Because she was bewitched by the number of points she had.
Because she had underestimated the strength of Dark Princess Oknodie.
It was all her karmic retribution.
Ishtar vowed with tears in her eyes.
She would never let her guard down again.
She would never underestimate again.
Oknodie was not beneath her.
She was a formidable foe that she had to defeat with all her might.
“Pay the cost for the 11 times I twisted my finger.”
“I acknowledge 11,000 points.”
“11,000…? Not 1,100?”
Oknodie answered her question in turn.
“Apparently, as long as your remaining points aren’t negative, you can receive 10 times the rewards from the confiscation board. Isn’t that great?”
What?
So breaking my fingers only required two times…?
For a moment she felt deflated.
But then a huge joy followed.
“Perfect! Now I don’t have to go through a political marriage!”
“…I’ll take the scholarship from the foundation.”
“1,000,000 points have been paid.”
To make up the remaining 100,000 points, she selected a list worth 10,000 points from the confiscation board, and the deficit points were all filled.
“Ishhtar. 5,000,000 points.”
“I forfeit!”
“The sixth auction item [Supporters of the Warrior Party] has been concluded for participant Ishtar at 5,000,000 boarding points.”
Oknodie put her hands behind her back and pretended to be haughty.
“You naughty warrior. Live your life nicely from now on!”
“…I will never forget today.”
The warrior shouldered the fainted saintess and returned to the cruise ship.
[Ishtar holds a grudge against you.]
[Ishtar’s relationship with you is now ‘Nemesis’.]
If it were a game, such a message would surely pop up at this moment.
—
As Ishtar gazed at the darkened cruise ship, her heart too was tainted by the pitch-black darkness.
In her youth, a power-hungry individual consumed by dark mana had exchanged the lives of the villagers in a remote hinterland village for dark mana.
The girl, hoping for a righteous trial that appealed to justice, witnessed how power trampled justice.
If you have power, you won’t be victimized.
If you lack power, you will be victimized.
When that truth was laid out before her, Ishtar began to wish desperately for the first time.
That she wanted to gain strength.
That she would become stronger than anyone.
She hadn’t learned how to distinguish right from wrong, nor what justice truly was, but she possessed the talent and opportunities to grow stronger faster than anyone else.
‘Oknodie was stronger than me.’
Not in brute force, but in cunning.
With the sinister wisdom she lacked.
There’s a reason the term ‘intellect’ exists, and she felt it deeply.
She needed power.
A new kind of power that she had never possessed before.
‘If I return to the academy, I’ll find a strategist. Yufi can do her best as an advisor, but she isn’t an official strategist.’
While she could cultivate her physical strength through the Mana Refinement Technique, intelligence was different.
To walk a path she hadn’t pursued before, someone already walking that path must extend a hand.
Who among the first years could be such a strategist?
First up, there was Jezel.
That guy who cleaned out points through gacha products.
He was Oknodie’s strategist.
But Masugaki Princess also had a knack for cleverness.
She could never bow her head to the empire’s princess, but…
…She might have to recruit an overlooked talent from the lower class.
Tsk.
With her reputation, it wouldn’t be easy.
But surely there would come a time when she could discover a suitable opportunity for recruiting talent.
“Ah, the warrior is back this time!”
“Wow. Did Oknodie win?”
“Unbelievable.”
“But won’t this make it tougher for us?”
“There’s no ace to help with a mutiny on board.”
“Ah… I shouldn’t have said that…”
The students openly expressed their disappointment.
Ishtar, the individualist, wasn’t about to help us.
This unexpected turn of events prompted a change in the students’ assumptions.
“A mutiny on board? What’s been happening?”
“Wait, Ishtar is talking to a lower class student…?”
“Uh, well… we were trying to conquer the ship and somehow pay back the negative boarding points without getting stuck…”
Perfect timing.
An opportunity had arisen to improve the image among the lower class students.
And also an opportunity to get back at the foundation that had tethered her.
“I’ll help.”
Unexpectedly, the warrior Ishtar, no one had anticipated, joined the rebellion on board.
