Chapter 231

‘What on earth is going on here?’

The nobles of the Waglew faction still couldn’t believe the situation.

‘Thought it was over when the lowest scorer was forced to choose the Shatren Territory…!’

‘The Shatren territory is based on agriculture. Without soil recovery, there was no way for it to succeed, so I was sure they would commit suicide…!’

‘Even giving money to the residents and causing division wasn’t a problem. There was no difference even if that fool took the same territory twice!’

‘Using Marf to accelerate premiumization and ruin Shatren… How could such a thing happen…!’

They expected this symposium to be the tomb of Carsein.

Starting from taking Shatren again, there was no way they could overcome the conflict with the residents, and there was no way a foolish commoner could come up with a method to revive an agricultural territory.

They had done so much already.

Even if they got high scores in previous reports and even obtained the Peselros Privilege, if the final results didn’t come out, it wouldn’t mean much.

If the final grades sank, that would have been the end of it.

But, he did everything.

Despite the precedent of ruining the territory, he resolved conflicts with the residents.

He identified and eliminated spies hiding among the residents, collected evidence, and punished them.

By purifying the soil and pinpointing problems within the Shatren territory, he stabilized the prices of Shatren strawberries and grapes.

Even up to this point, it’s unbelievable.

Absolutely, an impossible event occurred.

‘But, how did he find out about that fertilizer!’

No matter how hard he tried to think, the path or deduction to find out about the fertilizer was impossible.

As if something beyond common sense had infiltrated and pried open their brains, the nobles of the Waglew faction were led away with blank minds.

-Clank!

“Go in.”

The guards who brought them ordered them to enter the iron-barred prison.

As the sound of metal rang, facing the iron-barred prison, they began to realize what was happening.

From now on, the names called for them would not be the honorable titles of noble families but the names of criminals.

In the midst of this, Count Retelvik frowned.

“The place is wrong? A prison?”

“This is where you should be as the ones who caused the problem.”

“It’s ridiculous. Even though the fertilizer hasn’t been found yet, why do we have to go into prison like criminals?”

“Perhaps. The crime is serious and evidence will appear soon.”

“Hurry up and go in. You won’t want to be trampled right here.”

Count Retelvik clenched his teeth at the guards’ forceful attitude.

It was extremely insulting.

Being trampled and forced into prison was unbearable humiliation.

But, there was no other way.

How could they deny this?

Now that everything was revealed by Carsein, all they could do was hope the fertilizer wasn’t found, which might reduce their sentence.

At that moment.

A faint smoke rose with a hissing noise.

“Gah…?! What is this?!”

“Ugh! What trickery is this?!”

-Puuk!

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Two guards covering their mouths and coughing had their abdomens clearly pierced.

The two adults collapsed.

Green, sharp tentacles oozing blood quickly turned the two guards into corpses.

Seeing this scene, the nobles’ necks twisted backward.

There’s only one person who could use magic like this. Only the developer of this spell.

“Hey, Count Retelvik.”

“Do you know what you’ve done?!”

“It’s obvious.”

Obvious?

The nobles looked at Count Retelvik with the same expression.

“Count, are you mad?!”

“If we do this, we’ll be defying the royal command!”

“The suspicion will only increase!”

Thud!

Count Retelvik raised his eyes and slammed his cane down.

“So, you’re saying we should accept our punishment as it is? Including execution?”

“W-What?”

“Execution? If we only gained benefits from the territory, we wouldn’t be sentenced to death!”

“Besides, there’s no way we can find the hidden fertilizer. Once the black market is closed, there will be no way to know!”

“How foolish. Do you really think the fertilizer won’t be discovered?”

An old man sighed as he looked at the faction nobles with disdain.

“Was there any part of our work that was predictable until now by that fool?”

“T-That’s…”

“Recovering relations with residents who ruined your own territory is an error. Investigating and managing the soil is nonsensical, and the spies planted were being expelled by Rilfetten; it’s the same.”

Count Retelvik added, raising his voice.

“Until now, that fool has used every variable to ruin our work. Finding the fertilizer is just a matter of time! Yet, you still plan to sit in prison and wait for your sentence to be reduced!”

Finding the fertilizer is just a matter of time.

I still don’t understand what kind of idea came out of that fool’s head, but it’s clear they did something.

‘Just now, I clearly saw them take those western dogs.’

How they overcame the power of smell was unknown, but there was no time to waste.

The smoke had cleared.

Count Retelvik searched their pockets and took out the key to the room where the two guards stayed.

“Let’s move. Follow me.”

“Can you do anything, Count?”

“If we move from here, we’ll truly defy the royal command. We have no choice…”

He aimed his cane at the nobles.

“Do you want to die by His Highness, or by me?”

“Count!”

“There’s no time. Follow quietly unless you want to die like them.”

The nobles of the Waglew faction followed Count Retelvik, terrified.

Though they were terrified by the count’s threat and the crazy talk of weighing the royal family, they also secretly understood.

‘Yes. We can’t just sit here.’

‘Once the royal family finds the fertilizer, we won’t be able to escape.’

‘Staying idle won’t solve anything. He… will come to cut our throats.’

‘If the count has secretly developed that power, now is the best chance to use everything we have.’

‘We need to find a way to survive. That’s it…!’

Arriving at the room where the guards stayed, they changed their attitude and got to the point.

“Count.”

“What is it?”

“To accomplish this plan, we must eliminate that Carsein right here.”

“I don’t know what tricks he played, but shouldn’t we strike now?”

“We must avoid leaving any traces, but given the situation, we must at least cut off his airway. As per His Highness’ will!”

Count Retelvik finally chuckled.

That’s right.

We should have done this earlier.

To find a way to survive, we needed to act like this.

Although it was late, there was still a last resort. This was the best opportunity with the forces depleted.

“Good. Let’s use this to get rid of him─”

-Bang!

The door to the side room burst open.

Amidst fluttering pink hair, a blue glow targeted them.

“These bastards. Who do they think they are messing with?”

“Th, That’s…”

“Isn’t that Claire Bargrand?!”

“Enough. No need to wait for a verdict.”

-Wiiing—

A magic circle with considerable magic power was clearly visible.

Claire’s enraged magic engulfed the room where the Waglew faction was.

“The price for touching my younger sibling will be very high. You bastards.”

With a deadly voice, an explosion filled the air.

***

The symposium ended.

Some were immersed in despair, others in joy. Some made plans for the future, while others looked back with regret.

Young noble heirs, divided by various reactions to the tense exam, reminded one of school life.

“Huh. Why am I feeling like this?”

This shouldn’t even cross my mind.

-Tap.

“Huh?”

“Really, beyond imagination, isn’t it?”

Harnier, who had approached unnoticed, smiled while holding a cold drink against my cheek again.

“I knew you were planning something, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.”

“…Overpraised.”

“Overpraised? Have you seen the looks on other people’s faces? Their mouths were wide open as if they couldn’t believe it.”

Not only the others but she herself was so shocked that she covered her mouth with both hands.

Then, Harnier suddenly asked in a serious tone.

“…What did your family say?”

“You came to ask that?”

“But, we need to confirm.”

As if it was obvious, Harnier pouted her lips.

Well, this can be said.

And I wanted to ask her something too.

“My family didn’t say anything. I left the place.”

“Really? That’s good news.”

“And you?”

“Huh?”

“You were also in a situation where your family could make a fuss about your performance, weren’t you?”

Harnier hesitated for a moment, cleared her throat twice, and replied.

“Neither the marquis nor Belian said anything to me. It seems they were looking for reasons to cause trouble, but they couldn’t say such things after seeing our grades.”

“I see.”

It worked out well.

“So, let me ask again.”

“Yes?”

“Is there nothing you really want from me? This is too big…”

She asked while avoiding eye contact, but there was no other way for me.

“I can’t think of anything.”

“…Really?”

I thought about answering, “Just give me what you want,” but Harnier stepped away first.

“Then, I need to prepare… G, Give me some time for now.”

Prepare for what? I decided to put it off.

I still haven’t gotten used to this.

“Oh! Don’t forget! Got it?”

…Even while returning to the carriage, she told me not to forget.

I hope it’s not too burdensome.

***

The symposium is over.

The afterglow with the family is over.

After finishing my conversation with Harnier, I finally got some rest.

I entered my room and lay down on the bed, exhausted.

“…Finally, it’s over.”

Originally, Chapter 2’s climax was supposed to be the villains’ last struggle.

In the game, there was usually a commotion after the symposium results were announced.

But this time, I saw it with my own eyes.

Both conditions were not met.

So, it’s over.

The long Chapter 2 is finally over.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment of freedom.

…Or rather, I tried to.

-Knock knock.

“Excuse me, Carsein.”

Flora annoyingly came to visit.

‘So it’s like that.’

This game won’t easily let me off.

Even when I thought it was over, something like this always happens.

“Why did you come here when I’m tired?”

“I won’t take much of your time! I’m doing this alone…”

As the little girl said, this time it was just Flora.

Rolling her eyes, I was about to tell her to come in when Flora handed me a vial.

“This… I came to deliver this.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s Kelbia Allergy Relief. I made it myself!”

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Flora flinched and said,

“After the symposium, there’s a custom of giving gifts to the first place winner. So… someone might give you Kelbia fruit…”

What? Ridiculous.

A gift-giving custom? This isn’t something that happens in games.

‘…This information is surprisingly good.’

In short, I could have received a gift box full of items and then gotten stuck with Kelbia fruit.

-Ding!

▶ You can receive the top prize from Flora’s Symposium. ◀

▶ Your affinity will increase if you accept. Accept? ◀

‘Hmph. Was that the reason for this annoying prompt?’

Since my affinity would increase, it’s better to accept it first. I definitely don’t want to miss out on something and then have it drop or create unnecessary trouble.

But…

Why does she keep looking around my room?

“…Did she not come to your room?”

“Seriously. It’s an error that Claire is looking for me. If she met the family, she wouldn’t come to my room.”

Flora widened her eyes.

“Are you sure you didn’t meet with your younger sister?”

***

Bam bam bam.

As the smoke cleared, Claire couldn’t hide her astonishment.

“What? How…!”

Surely, that huge flame had consumed this room.

Such firepower should have instantly subdued everyone in the room.

Yet.

They stood there unharmed.

Shielding something.

“Humph. Since they’re inside, there’s no other choice. Let’s start eliminating them.”

What is that…

What in the world is that…?

“Claire… Young Lady.”

Something that seemed to be a mix of human and plant called out Claire’s name.