Chapter 179 – Underneath – 1
“Great job. It must have been tough.”
Aurora, having heard the whole story, crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair.
The chair had been replaced with a slightly plusher material than before. If the previous chair prioritized style over practicality, this one seemed to focus much more on practicality and comfort.
According to rumors, after I had mixed bodies with her, I had such a hard time sitting in a chair for days that they replaced it with a softer material.
I did thrust a bit harder to make it impossible for her to follow me back then, but I thought I should restrain myself a bit next time.
‘If she has a mind to do so, that is.’
Aurora glanced at me with a playful smile. It was the kind of smile you wear when a good idea pops into your head.
Good ideas, not from my perspective, but from hers.
“By the way, aren’t you going to tell me what you did in the Holy Kingdom?”
“What did you hear just a moment ago?”
I looked at Aurora with disbelief. What she just asked was precisely what she had heard regarding my activities in the Holy Kingdom, and she had the gall to ask that after listening to everything from start to finish.
Of course, I had hidden a lot. I couldn’t just spill everything that had happened in the Holy Kingdom.
Wrestling with the Popes for two straight days, hearing the Voice of God, and receiving sacred relics, among other things.
Each of them would cause a storm if it got out. Especially if it reached Kaiquilia’s ears; it was bound to trigger chaos.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Aurora or that she couldn’t keep a secret, but still, I didn’t want to spill anything just yet.
Not because of any other reason, but because I felt like I couldn’t handle the aftermath. I was already busy dealing with bosses, and I didn’t want any troubles popping up elsewhere.
“You visited the Holy Popes, huh? Didn’t you do anything with them?”
Aurora, with a chuckle on her face, touched her left thumb and index finger to form a circle, repeatedly inserting and withdrawing her right index finger.
That grandiose act of blasphemy made my expression break into an even more incredulous look.
“Now, you’re committing blasphemy too? I won’t be responsible for any divine retribution!”
“You’ll protect me, Delta, so it’s fine. You wouldn’t abandon me after doing something like that, would you?”
“Who am I that I would protect from divine retribution?”
“Hmm… well, a man with many secrets?”
Aurora’s face was filled with mischief. The woman who had claimed she couldn’t even move a step due to her back pain seemed completely healed.
And since it was true I had mixed bodies with the Popes in the Holy Kingdom, I didn’t really have a reason to refute her. If I denied it, I might just get struck by lightning.
“Did you keep me here just to make such shabby jokes? You’ve been awake all this time?”
I stole a glance at the clock. It pointed to 2 AM.
To activate the Easter Egg for Luna, I obviously had to wait until night when the moon rises, particularly until midnight when the full moon hangs exactly vertical over the spire of the Moon Cathedral.
So, inevitably, coming back here had to happen very late at night.
However, the reason it was closer to dawn rather than just late was largely due to the grand squabble that had occurred with the Popes.
‘How am I supposed to accept that if it makes me uneasy?’
Floretta and Luna, who had received a sacred relic from me, asked me to wait a moment since they wanted to give me some kind of a reward but returned within ten minutes pulling a convoy of 40 carriages.
To them, it might have been a sacred relic, but to me, who knew the reality, it was just a flashlight. It seemed like my conscience would be poked a lot by accepting such a worthless reward for what I provided.
Unless I could get something more value for money while maintaining my dignity, that kind of return was a burden rather than a reward.
So I tried to take only one carriage’s worth, but the Popes begged me to let them express their sincerity and clung to me, making me sweat a lot trying to convince them. That was the reason for the grand squabble.
‘When I returned to the castle with Selene, the guards on night watch nearly fainted from shock.’
Well, even if I had carefully selected the treasures I managed to keep in the end, it was still worth ten carriages.
It was only natural for the castle to flip upside down when the Knight Commander, who had left claiming there was something to do, returned with ten carriages marked with the insignia of the Holy Kingdom.
I had to wake up not just the guards on duty but also everyone who had been sleeping to get things organized.
The sight of five men in bunny suits and fifty bunny girls gathering treasures in the dawn was quite a sight, albeit an ironic one.
‘I wonder if we’ll finish before the night ends.’
I told the guards on duty that Aurora said she’d come look for them anytime and took a suitable jewel before heading to the mansion.
I had dumped a lot of work on them and slipped away myself, which seemed to make the eyes of the vice commander and the other members gaze at me with a rather peculiar look.
“Did I really do that? The report said at most, two days would suffice, but here we are on the third day without news. I was just wondering what you were up to that you’re so delayed.”
“Well, I did have my reasons.”
“Of course, there would be reasons. If you had just been late, that wouldn’t be a problem, but you returned with this much.”
Aurora glanced at the gem placed on her desk. Upon seeing it, she widened her eyes, asking what kind of jewel it was, then looked baffled after getting my answer.
As if recalling that moment, a soft sigh slipped between her lips.
“…I’ve said all that I need to say. It’s late, so feel free to go back.”
“Understood.”
Aurora stared at me with eyes that seemed to have more to say, then lowered her gaze and reached for the jewel on her desk. Seeing that, I turned and left her room.
It was a relief that it ended without any unusual occurrences. I had been concerned that, like the Popes, Aurora might try to seduce me.
“Weren’t you with the Lord inside?”
As I stepped into the corridor and closed the door, a woman’s voice came from right beside me.
I jolted and turned towards the voice. Standing there, as always, was Lana, the maid with black hair and black eyes, her hands gently clasped in front of her lower abdomen.
“…I was.”
As I calmed the startled feelings and answered, Lana tilted her head.
“Why did you come out so soon?”
What is this, déjà vu?
That morning after returning from the Holy Kingdom, I had stepped into Nix’s room after hearing about the quantity and list of treasures from Laksia and the other vice commanders.
According to Laksia, it seemed we would seriously need to consider an extension of the storage. The quantities were immense, and I could roughly gauge that even by eye, but I hadn’t expected it to be that much.
With the ten carriages that were significantly less than what I originally intended to offer, if I had received the full 40, wouldn’t the entire castle have overflowed with treasures?
Resolved to remodel the castle this time, I organized a list of facilities needing repairs, improvements, or expansions and asked for it, like I always did, before explaining to Nix what had transpired in the Holy Kingdom.
I mentioned that Nix’s own ban had been laid down directly by the god.
“…Hehe, is that so.”
After hearing my explanation, Nix was silent for a time before breaking into her usual carefree giggle.
“So, have you ever been involved with someone from the Holy Kingdom? Or have you, like me, heard the Voice of God?”
“I don’t think I have… It’s not in my memory.”
“It’s not in my memory,” I said. That was a very ambiguous statement. It sounded like there could be something in Nix’s ‘casual’ memory, but since Nix’s personalities share memories, it was complex.
“You said that you all share memories, right? Then the casual Nix must not know either?”
“Yes. What I know, that Nix also knows, and what I don’t know, that Nix doesn’t know either. Ah, but there are differences in very minute details.”
“Differences? In what way?”
“Like using magic; I’m a bit better at that compared to the casual one.”
Now that I think about it, I remembered an instance when casual Nix claimed that was outside her area, switching with polite Nix because polite Nix was better at magic.
“Do you know why differences arise?”
“Hehe, I’m not sure about that either….”
Nix fidgeted with her fingers in front of her chest while I read the room. I ruffled her hair, signaling that it was okay. Her expression immediately brightened.
“Alright, got it. I’ll ask the casual version later.”
Nodding vigorously, her head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.
I cursed internally at the green-haired cat deity of the Holy Kingdom, whom I didn’t even get a proper answer from, and continued petting Nix’s head.
“Commander, are you there? I heard you were in the dark wizard’s room.”
Someone knocked at the door. It was Laksia.
“I am. What’s the matter?”
“A letter has arrived for you, Commander.”
“A letter?”
At the moment I heard that, a chill ran down my spine. Has there ever been a letter that ended just as a letter? I felt like every letter had led to trouble or required me to go somewhere.
“Yes. May I deliver it to you?”
“Sure, come in.”
With my permission, Laksia opened the door and walked inside.
She paused for a moment, glancing at me petting Nix along with Nix cooing in response, before handing me the letter and promptly leaving.
I quickly checked the sender. Unless it was a letter from Kaiquilia herself or a time-sensitive mandatory quest or story, I was prepared to ignore it for a few days.
‘…Lize?’
But to my surprise, the sender was Lize. I couldn’t ignore a letter from Lize, so I carefully untied the seal.
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